


Astruma: A DCU Fanfiction

by jujuDCEU



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Injustice: Gods Among Us, Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bullying, DC Comics Rebirth, Disabled Character, Gore, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Multi, OOC, Overall A Decent Family Comedy, Period-Typical Racism, Racism, oc x oc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-03-07 21:41:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 28
Words: 55,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13443975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujuDCEU/pseuds/jujuDCEU
Summary: Mar'eyna Koran is an extraordinary, extraterrestrial girl, who has to balance protecting the Milky Way, school, drama, and romance. It's juicier than it sounds.Mar'eyna is my OC for DC as a whole. Don't associate any of your OCs with the civilisation I've created for her without my permission, please.





	1. Bio

**Author's Note:**

> I'm brand new here, omg. You have no idea how long I waited for an invite. GN. Follow my tumblr and other atrocities.
> 
> https://jumasketched.deviantart.com/  
> https://dcuxjuma.tumblr.com/

Name: Mar'eyna Karisma Koran  
Age: 16, as of mid-2017  
Heroine Alias: Astruma, as of 2010  
Secret ID: Mary K. Kent   
Height: 5"4, as of mid-2017  
Hair: White   
Eyes: White   
Race: Half Lunarian, with an Atlantean mother, adopted into Lunaria's society.   
Special Abilities: Hydrokinesis, teleportation, speed bursts, flight  
Weaknesses: Susceptible to any form of fire, wood, and metal. Vulnerable when elbows are on the ground.


	2. Chapter 1: Moon Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The origins of Mar'eyna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, this is just my Wattpad story and I'm transferring it to here. And up to Chapter 20, this is old work from late 2017, so excuse the corniness of my earlier days. It gets better.

Kal-El, better and famously known as Superman, was completing a mission on Lunaria. Lunaria was a society built around the core of the Moon. The people there tend to have many, many violent revolts. Most were simply teenage rebellion. Lunaria was a very strict place, where even not greeting a man would result in penalisation.   
This rebellion was the fourth one in a month. The Justice League itself had to halt moving forward. These kids had guns, flamethrowers, bombs, big bombs, and held captives. What sparked this calamity? The execution of a the young prince by his own brother. The Monarchy of Lunaria was a, in lamer terms, hot ass mess. There had to have been thirty children of the king in like for that throne. Backstabbing in the castle happened like this all of the time between the elder siblings. The last coronation was a disaster after what would've been the first queen of Lunaria(Lunaria follows the heir apparent system). As she was about to grab her wonderful, diamond crested tiara, she was assassinated from afar, by her brother who skipped the coronation to plan the murder. He claimed it was vengeance for his elder brother, who was killed by his sister. The vicious cycle continued. But one of the other brothers found his sniper sibling and shot him. The reason this specific murder caused an uprising was because the prince that killed the princess was only a measly ten years old. No prince in Lunarian history was buried that young. He was also the society's favourite rosy cheeked sweetheart. The younger citizens took this as a threat from the older people as a sign to show dominance. So the teenagers revolted.   
Around this event that would forever be in Lunaria's history books, a couple was healthily coping with the death of yet another infant. The baby was too young for its gender to even be determined. The couple had about three healthy and older children. The couple was Mar'kus and Mar'ania Koran.   
In their society, the infant mortality rate was very high. Three out of four babies didn't live through a whole term. Whereas, if they did live for three days after being released from their pod, they would be sent to different planets in the Milky Way. The majority end up on the inner planets. Lunaria's infants are sent away with all of the knowledge of an Encyclopaedia. And they receive more education wherever they end up. Parents arrange for their children to be raised by smart, strong, and influential people and leaders. Babies only take about a month to be conjured up in a lab; the women can not be beget with babies. Sperm and eggs are sent to labs to build up an embryo in a tiny glass pod.   
Back to the Koran's, they had a set of twins. One passed in its pod. The other had seemed to soak up the other's health and thriving and was developing fully. She was a baby girl. Her eyes were wide open in her pod as her hands were pressed against the glass. She had a toothless smile to show whenever her parents came to check on her hourly. She was a little confused by the greater amount of visitors she had received that day. She smiled regardless.   
The extra visitors were the famous Justice League of America, some of them at least. The majority were still trying to bring peace to the outraged people.   
"She's the equivalent of a birthed five month old on Earth." Mar'ania, the baby's mother spoke. "We still have not found a suitable caretaker for her yet."   
"Many have came, none were qualified." Mar'kus spoke. "So who better to ask than the Justice League themselves?" He presented his daughter once more.   
In the lab was Batman wearing a breathing mask, Superman, and Green Lantern; John Stewart.   
"She seems to have plenty of potential." GL praised. "Floating all about." He put a finger on the baby's pod, and she tried to grasp it and bite it.   
"From here, she will halt in growth for about four months, then continue to grow. This is for children to adjust to the age patterns of whatever planet they go to." Mar'ania explained to the heroes. "Most likely Earth if we come to an agreement."  
The three Earth dwelling men looked at each other, waiting for one to crack so they could swoop in and take the offer. None of the protégés had been born yet anyway, so most were yearning for a young scholar to train in the future.   
"Although we do respect you plentiful Mr. Bruce Wayne," Mar'kus spoke.   
Batman's head jerked around from out of the huddle, being compromised. His teammates all looked at him in a level of surprise, not knowing the vigilante was the millionaire playboy of Wayne Industries.   
"We believe our daughter should be raised by a more, how do you say...extraterrestrial being." Mar'kus finished.   
"Just for the sake of her needing more than a company willed to her after your time comes." Mar'ania explained, linking her arm with her husband's.   
"I understand where you are coming from." Batman said in his raspy, monotone voice. "Then the two of you might want to flip a coin." He suggested to Superman and Green Lantern.   
"Our daughter's future will not be based on a foolish, absolutely absurd, ludicrous money toss." Mar'ania said with gnashing teeth. She straightened back into her sweet housewife demeanour.   
"What about Rock Paper Scissors?" Superman asked.   
Mar'kus and Mar'ania looked at one another, confused. Never had they heard of "rock paper scissors." They watched with heavy concentration as the men moved their hands up and down three times in fists before changing them into different positions on the fourth count. The meta-humans jumped in surprise at the shouting of "Shoot!" From both men.   
"Truly a game of the intellects of Earth!" Mar'ania clapped, encouraging them to do it again.   
"The wisest men must use this method. Truly a game of intelligence indeed, my love." Mar'kus stroked his short beard. "To use such a knowledgeable and articulate approach to win over our daughter is greatly respected."  
Superman chuckled at the couple's interpretation of the simple game. The two went again, two out of three they agreed on. Green Lantern had won the first. One, two, three, shoot! Superman covered Green Lantern's rock with his paper. Tied, they took this round very seriously. With narrowed eyes, they focused on one another's expression more than the hand movements. One, two, three, shoot! Both men threw up scissors. Another tie, they all thought. Only Green Lantern was focused on the hand movements now, thinking of it as a new strategy. One, two, three, shoot! Superman played with round with rock, and Green Lantern with paper. GL groaned, losing the match. Mar'ania clapped excitedly as the Kryptonian was deemed victorious.   
"Fair game!" She cheered.   
"Very well, Kal-El of Krypton, we grant you our daughter." Mar'kus said. The men shook hands firmly as Superman beamed with joy. Under all that muscle, there was a man who believed he could be a great father.   
"I'll name her Karisma." Superman said. "Cool Earth nickname for Kari-El."  
The parents looked at Superman man like they were about to deliver bad news. Mar'ania went over to the bookshelf and browsed.   
"There is a Lunarian tradition you probably should take into consideration." Mar'kus began. "A few, actually." He helped his wife with the heavy, thick books she carried. One by one, they handed them off to Superman.   
"Here's a Baby Names with the Mar- Prefix, Edition Deluxe. You have to choose her name from here." Mar'ania handed Superman one of the smaller, compact books. "And if you get stuck, we can recommend a few names." Superman was already skimming the pages.   
"Here's the Updated Lunarian Society Social Studies textbook, all of our history lies within these leathery pages. Read it carefully so when our daughter returns after puberty, she remembers the basic etiquette. And to add on to that, here's Updated Lunarian Society Social Studies Part 2." He piled another book in Superman's hands. "And an older version of Lunarian phrases translated to English. And a framed photo of us in case she gets sad, which she rarely does." Mar'kus finished.   
"The only time she'll cry is probably when she's taken out of her pod." "Mar'ania said. She watched as Superman finished the name book. "Have you decided on a name?" She asked.   
"Mar'koliver." Superman declared. Everyone in the lad looked over at him, even the baby in her pod shook her head.   
"Oh! I almost forgot. The book made a huge error and switched the M and F's. So you have to pick a name with the M next to it for a girl" Mar'ania explained to him. She flipped to the girl's section for him.   
"And that name would be pronounced 'mar-Kay-lover. Not Mark Oliver." Green Lantern pointed his finger to the phonetics.   
Mar'kus was glad to extent the hero couldn't find a decent name. He had already discussed a few with his wife a month ago. He pulled out his list and handed it to Superman. It was just around ten names on the parchment.  
"This one seems most fit for our baby girl." Mar'kus pointed to the first name.   
Superman didn't even try to pronounce it, in fear of butchering it.   
"Guess that's her name then."


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slep, i can't believe the indents don't transfer, I'm not going back.

Five years went by since the Lunarian rebellion of 2000. Superman and his new daughter were the 'it' duo. She even bore the S on her costume. Her hero identity was Supergirl for the remainder of her single digit years.   
Those days, her English was becoming much better, being around nothing but that language all the hours of the day. Her adaption from Lunarian culture to American culture was an easy transition. She loved her quality Metropolis programming and its history. But although a quick learner, she was still grasping the topic of secret identities.   
"I want chicken nuggets, a Hi-C; orange of course, and a small fry." She ordered. She was reading the menu like she could understand what it said. I never said she could read English, did I?   
The waiter looked at her with a confused look, then gave the look to-now- Clark Kent.   
"And you don't have to give me that dirty look. Remember who's giving you tips." She said with a scowl. "Also, I want a milkshake. Make it snappy before I tell your manager."   
Her squeaky, high pitched voice was hard to take seriously. But the face she making made the waiter scribble her order down quickly, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead.   
"Mar'eyna." Clark scolded. "Be polite."   
"I'll probably be nicer once I get a strawberry shake in me." She said, glancing over to the waiter.   
"Sir," the waiter whispered to Clark. "This isn't a McDonald's. We don't have chicken nuggets."   
Clark shrugged, and told him to just bring her mashed potatoes and grilled chicken. As for the shake, to get her a cola.   
"I can see that you haven't read the book I gave you. On teaching your child basic etiquette." Bruce said, behind his menu. "I'll have the sirloin."   
"Second that." Clark said, sending the waiter on his way. "I'm on chapter seven, for your information."  
"There's forty parts to that book." Bruce sipped his alcoholic beverage.   
"It's her birthday, Bruce. Cut her some slack. She's gonna act like a diva around this time." Clark said defensively.   
"Her birthday is tomorrow." Hal cut in.   
"Pretty boy," Mareyna snapped her fingers in Hal's direction. "Stop speaking about me like I'm Helen Keller. I can hear." She adjusted her birthday sash. Her hair was braided in the Lunarian traditional style. She blew the loose hairs away from her eyes. Mareyna hummed as she took off her tiara and looked at her reflection through it.   
"That is a very nice crown you picked out for today, Mary." Diana complimented. "The silver one works better with your hair."  
"It's a tiara, not a crown. Crowns are for boys." Mareyna clapped back. "And don't call me Mary. I'm too old for that nickname."  
"Too old? You're not even five yet." Hal chimed in.   
Mareyna rolled her eyes as she scoffed. "I like the negro lantern more than you. Why isn't he here?" The Leaguers present held back their gasps.   
"We don't use that word." Clark said quietly, not wanting to publicly call her out.   
"Lantern?" Mareyna cocked her head to the side. "Oh! You mean negro. Very good catch Daddy. It is a slur from forty years ago that people still somehow find offensive, even though it just means black, which is what negros are."   
Clark just sipped his drink while everyone in the room stared at their table and began to murmur.   
"Isn't it weird though how calling white people blancos never caught on?" Mareyna kept talking. "It's a million times more catchy than cracker."  
"You." Clark reached over the table and put a finger to her mouth. "Quiet until your food comes."   
Bruce nodded his head, seeing that Clark took notes from chapter five.   
"Do I have to ask to use the bathroom?" Mareyna asked, already getting out of her seat.   
"Go ahead." Clark said tiredly. Mareyna skipped away from the table into the restroom. He sighed, finally getting a break.   
"What's the strictest boarding school I can send her off to?" Clark groaned.   
"Leave her on Themyscira for a week. It'll straighten her out." Diana commented.   
"Or justa good ol' slap on the wrist." Bruce said.

The dinner was over and everyone went their separate ways. Clark took Mareyna to Chickfila for the fries, nuggets, and milkshake she wanted earlier. She still frowned the whole way home even afterwards. She had been distant ever since she came back from the restroom. Clark didn't know why, but he put on her favourite 2005 bop.   
Mareyna was so quiet because she heard her father say he was going to send her to a far away school so he wouldn't have to deal with her. She was paraphrasing, but still, it hurt her four point ninety-nine year old heart to hear. She usually sat in the passenger seat, but took the liberty of just sitting in her booster chair in the back row. Clark spectated her expressions from the mirror. He sighed, feeling bad.   
They reached their home deep within Metropolis. Clark didn't even get the chance to open Mareyna's door for her. She had teleported into her bedroom and was already taking off her shoes. Clark knocked on her bedroom door.   
"Come in." She granted him entry.   
"You left your flip phone in the car." He said. Clark walked over to her and sat on the bed. He passed her the phone, and she silently thanked him. Clark put an arm around his daughter. "What's the matter Mary? It's almost your birthday in a few hours. Why so glum?"  
Mareyna just shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.  
"How was your shake?" Clark tried to spark up a bit of conversation. "I had cookies and cream and it was perfect."  
"It was pretty good before I let it melt." Mar'eyna said. "Thanks for taking me out with the league. I had fun cursing out waiters. And seeing Hal without no costume."  
"Hal?"  
"Yes."  
The topic of Mar'eyna's crush was nothing new. Ever since she could walk, she would would open her arms around Hal so he'd pick her up. Talking about Hal made her smile return a bit, which made Clark smile.  
"Seriously, Mary. What's the matter?"   
"Don't send me to boarding school."  
"What? I never sai-"  
"Shut the hell up. I heard you with my own ears on my way to the bathroom." Mar'eyna cut him off before he could finish.   
"Language, please." Clark scolded. "And it was an empty statement. I would never--"  
"Pssh. I really don't wanna talk about. It's fine." Mar'eyna crossed her arms.   
"Oh. Alright." Clark tried not to push anything. "Good night then. Don't let the bed bugs bite." His weight lifted off the bed as he went to turn on the lamp and turn off the light switch. He kissed Mar'eyna on the forehead.   
"I'm not going to sleep." Mar'eyna protested.   
"Mary, it's almost eleven."  
"Maybe if you read the Lunarian handbook that hadn't been dusted in years, you'd remember I'm nocturnal."  
Clark did remember that. It was only yesterday morning that she almost suffocated when she dropped asleep right into her French toast. And it was only last night that he caught her watching the grown up shows that come on late at night, chips in hand. He remembered when he had to tell Mar'eyna that she couldn't watch Titanic because it wasn't meant for youngins.   
Mar'eyna began to click the numbers on her phone to text her friends, sending a signal that Clark could go away now.   
She changed into her sleepwear, which was just a light blue satin gown. Not being tired, she tried to sleep through the night anyway and pulled her covers over her head. Mar'eyna got up immediately after she remembered her teeth weren't brushed.

Being officially five now, Mar'eyna was acting more of a diva than she was the night before. Despite being completely drained of energy, she still managed to operate. She was putting on her bow tie, which was part of her uniform. Aside from the khaki skirt she had to wear, Mar'eyna accessorised her clothes, adding a birthday girl ribbon on to her shirt along with a birthday sash. Girls were obligated to have ponytails in her school. But as always, Mar'eyna tied her hair into twin braids for school. Once that was finished with that, she placed the tiara she wore yesterday on the top of her head. Her vanity had a seat that was pretty much a love seat. Mar'eyna sat in it, and organised the colour scheme she was going to go with for a Thursday, December, snowy morning. Maybe a nice light blue? But that wouldn't match her sash and pin, now would it? So she settled for a bubblegum pink for her lips, and painted it over with her sparkly lipgloss. She smacked her lips to make sure everything was even. And Mar'eyna wasn't allowed to wear any eye make up, so she put on her nonprescription glasses on and she was done gussying up. She had a grey peacoat she refused to wear all winter in her closet. Mar'eyna fathomed that it didn't even deserve a hanger. But either way, she put on the school vest and went outside to wait for the school bus.   
Which took its sweet ass time. There wasn't even enough snow to plow through, not even enough to make a decent snowball. Mar'eyna pulled out her phone and the time read 7:50. School started at 8:00, and it was a twenty minute ride with all the kids it had to pick up.   
And then, lightbulb! Idea. But before acting on it, she looked over her right shoulder.   
"Clear." She mumbled.   
Left shoulder.   
"Even more clear."   
Seeing that she was in no one's view, she opened up a teleportation portal, with the help of her Lunarian decent.   
Satisfied was how she felt when she looked at it. A nice lavender ring, and a white center. Mar'eyna customised it herself, like most Lunarian children did. In her mind, she set the destination to her classroom and hopped right on in.

Ten minutes early, a new record. There were barely any kids in class at that time, besides the teacher's pets. Mar'eyna rolled her eyes at them. Never had she imagined that the teacher could prefer a bunch of robust, ignorant, rapscallion troublemakers. As she was glaring at the group, she noticed that they were already terrorising the poor Mr. Jordan, not to be confused with Hal Jordan. But Mr. Jordan just laughed along with them as they drew lewd things on the white board. Being in middle school was hard. Mar'eyna wasn't emotionally mature enough to deal with all the twelve year olds. She was still a measly five, and still had trouble tying her laces. Sometimes, on days like these, Mar'eyna liked to wonder what her life would be like in that very instant of she hadn't tested out of elementary school. She's probably be eating orange slices and pretzels as the pets threw paper balls from a distance into the trash can.

Eight AM struck. The bell rang, and the preteens and teens waiting in the auditorium to be sent up to class flooded in. Mar'eyna moved into her assigned seat for homeroom while someone else filled her place in the desk she was sitting in.   
"Good Thursday, alumni." Mr. Jordan greeted.   
Everyone muttered a response.   
"Hopefully whoever is in my third period English did the homework." He only taught for two periods, third English and fifth English II, which was reserved for the eight graders. Those in his homeroom were all in sixth grade. "Just a reminder, I wanted chapter seven read, which a page long summary."  
Mar'eyna was already dozing off. Damn nocturnal instincts kicked in at the wrong time, as always. During homeroom, she always slept instead of working on forgotten home assignments. She guessed she could just ask to use the bathroom when he went around to check it.

Fifth period gym, the best time to work out and sweat. Because next period was lunch, and Mar'eyna always worked up an appetite doing laps. Her little legs were much shorter than the kids of the mixed grades she was with, and could hardly keep up. Lunarians do inherit speed bursts, which would let Mar'eyna run super fast for like three seconds. But they only get it once they hit puberty, and of course the five year old did not. But laps weren't what was on her prepubescent mind.   
Andrew Lin, or Andy as he liked to be addressed. Despite his surname, he was of no East Asian relation. He was tall, black hair, brown eyes, scored all the goals last season...  
"Dreamy." Mar'eyna said to herself, adding to her thoughts. She loved how his curly hair bounced as he ran.   
Getting too lost in thought, Mar'eyna tripped over her own foot. First her knees hit the polished wooden floors, and then her cheek. Her arms didn't even try to make an effort to break the fall. Mar'eyna's face was red from embarrassment as parts of the students snickered and pointed.   
"The child prodigy can't even stand up straight? A joke is what she is." A seventh grader girl said.   
Mar'eyna had to roll over to her back to get up, since she was in her vulnerable state. But nonetheless, she got up and dusted herself.   
"Like you've never tripped before." Mar'eyna said with a dirty look on her face. The girl was only about three feet away from the scene. Albeit, Mar'eyna could see her roll her eyes from that far.   
She walked up to the bold toddler. Her brown ponytail swung like a pendulum. Mar'eyna groaned as she saw the signature cheerleader bow on her hair. She dusted herself off.   
"You're pretty tall for a five year old. How tall?"  
"4'11."  
"I don't like your attitude. But at the same time I do."  
"Listen, I have ropes to jump and laps to do."   
"Tall enough to take me."  
"In what way?" Mar'eyna squinted her eyes. "I'm not gay."  
"Girls got jokes. Idiot, I mean in a fight." She shoved Mar'eyna.   
"How stupid do you look fighting someone my age, huh?" Mar'eyna shoved   
her back.   
The kids in the gym took out their flip phones and began to record discreetly. The girls were just pushing each other back and forth. No hits yet. And with the advisor on her bathroom break, no one could break it up. Some of the girls were trying to persuade them not to go on. Contrarily, the boys instigated.   
"Punch her in the tit!"   
Ensuing the fight, the boy pressed record on his phone.   
It was honestly a pretty fair fight. In some cases, their advantages were the other's disadvantage. The cheerleader wasn't much taller, but certainly heavier. To compensate, Mar'eyna was quicker, and her hits were harder. Her greatest fear was to go overboard and do the girl permanent damage. So Mar'eyna focused more on jabbing her stomach than making the girl's head spin a 360. With the fist full of hair the cheerleader had of Mar'eyna's, Mar'eyna was only limited to the stomach anyway. She kept her sparring moves in her back pocket, and stayed to street fighting. And when the brown haired girl let her hair go, Mar'eyna went for a nice, that'll-teach-you, spin kick. Right in the girl's throat. The gymnasium went berserk as Mar'eyna tackled the girl with a grunt and punched her about twelve times in the clavicle. The blows could've been heard if the whole gym wasn't acting like monkeys.   
Everyone's video length was around thirty seconds. Mar'eyna posed for Andy's camera in particular as she redid her braids. Mar'eyna was ready for the cheerleader to keep going, but all she did was get off the ground and walk off, hands over her collarbone. If Mar'eyna cared to look closely, she would've saw her crying.

"Psst!" Mar'eyna hear from the desk next to her. "Pssstt!!!" It was louder. She turned to the noise.  
"We're taking a quiz." Mar'eyna whispered.   
"That's why I'm talking quietly." Andy whispered back. "I like how girly you swing."  
Mar'eyna cracked a smile as she filled in C as an answer. "Thank you."  
"I like your hair too. It's neat."  
"Okay. You're distracting me. You can talk to me after class." Mar'eyna went back to her quiz.   
"Hard to get. Nice."  
"I'm five." She said through her teeth. It was only okay for her to like older men, not the other way around. Mar'eyna got up to put her quiz in the finished bin. As she sat back down, Andy got up to put his in the bin as well. He sat down like he thought the seat was higher than it was. The whole desk moved and skidded a bit on the floor. Mar'eyna smiled in admiration as he put it back into place.   
After a minute of appropriate silence, Andy began talking again. Mar'eyna lifted her head off her laying arms. Her eyes were barely open as she looked at the boy poking her side. Andy never paid much attention to Mar'eyna before her fight.   
"What?" Mar'eyna whispered hastily, just wanting to catch some Z's before the period was over.   
"Meet me at the track field after school."  
"Ha. Hell no. I'm going straight home."  
"I thought you liked me though." Andy pouted.   
"Yeah, but only your face." Mar'eyna shut him down real quick. "I don't have sincere feelings for you. Andy, you're all appearance. No taste."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Andy said a little louder, getting defensive.   
"It means your attitude sucks. And I like you better when you're not talking." She put her head back down as Andy dismissed himself from the room to go to the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 3

Mar'eyna hated not being in the spotlight. But that new Boy Blunder was in hers. His shorts were about the length of her panties. She always had a scowl on her face waiting for him when he turned around to look at her.   
She also had no time for his sob story Kal was trying to explain to her in hopes she'd be a little bit nicer to Batman's first protege. Oh boo hoo. Another orphan seeking vengeance. Mar'eyna was not impressed, or compassionate. She even started to call Kal 'daddy' more on missions just to rub in that her parents and guardian were alive and well.   
"I didn't call him a dick. That's his name!" Mar'eyna reasoned. "It just so happens they're synonyms." Kal gave her a slap on the wrist.   
"He's been through a lot the past year. I want you to be friendly."   
"And if I'm not?" Mar'eyna crossed her arms and tilted her head, waiting to hear her consequences.   
"No missions for a month."   
Mar'eyna nervously chuckled. "Come on Daddy. Let's be rational. How about we don't be hasty and grab a cup of coffee?" She grabbed his hands and tried to lead him over to the Zeta tubes. Kal had obviously not moved an inch, being two hundred pounds of muscle more than his daughter.   
"Go talk to him. You're about his age." Kal shooed her off to go socialise. Mar'eyna mumbled something explicit under her breath and walked over to the raven haired boy known as Robin.   
Dick looked happy to see Mar'eyna approach him instead of him coming up to her and being threatened with a stolen pocket knife. His eyes had to peel away from the pages of his book though.   
"I don't think we've met. Officially." Mar'eyna said in the most forced, montone way. You could see the enthusiasm in her dull eyes.   
"The name's Grayson." Dick said. "Dick Grayson."  
"Since you're a little detective, you can probably guess how you should address me." Mar'eyna said like she was talking to a child younger than her, all condescending. "Carry a magnifying glass in your little belt?"  
"Actually," Dick opened a compartment on his yellow utility belt. "I do." He gasped when Mar'eyna swiftly smacked it out of his hand. Then she stomped on it. The glass didn't break, but Dick heard a snap in the handle. He pursed his lips, holding back a complaint.   
"There's nothing super about being a super sleuth, Dick. Why don't you get into a freak accident and get flight or something?" Mar'eyna froze his hand with her ice when he reached down for his magnifier. "Stick to acrobatics, Richard." Mar'eyna taunted. She flipped her hair as she turned to walk away. With the twist of her fingers, Mar'eyna unfroze Dick's hand from afar.   
Dick's lips turned into a frown. He didn't want to be enemies with her or anything along those lines.   
But Dick just stayed his distance whenever they were in the same room. He quickly adapted to not flinch whenever a flash of pink when past him. Dick grew to become pretty damn irritated with her like she was with him. While the adults talked about tactics and attack points, he glared at her. When Mar'eyna looked up and saw his masked face facing her direction, she mumbled some bad words she heard someone on TV say, hoping Dick could read lips. This silent war went of for about a year before both the children snapped. Bruce and Kal picked up on it, and assumed it was just another one of Mar'eyna pressings to be the only child on the League, the same pressing that drove away a young pyrokinetic boy who called himself Danny Blaze. We don't talk about him.   
"If you want the last juice box, you're gonna have to reach for it." Mar'eyna teleported the Caprisun to the top of one of the many bookshelves in the Hall of Justice.   
"Mar'eyna, you're a jerk! Now none of us can reach it." Dick shoved her.  
"You don't need the calories anyway fatty!" Mar'eyna pushed him back with minimal force.   
This pushing rapidly became more and more excessive and violent.

That was their first fight. Bo-staffs and somersaults included.   
Mar'eyna had more important things to focus on than stupid Richard and his stupid pant less costume. What a loser, fighting crime in panties. Her nose twitched whenever she thought about it.   
School wasn't easy on her. The pressure of getting into extracurriculars and activities was honestly freaking annoying to her. Every assembly was "Get involved" this, and "Join clubs." that. Did the school board never see her saving lives and stopping bank robbers on the news? That was extracurricular enough in her opinion.  
Mar'eyna always did her homework in pink crayon. Clark tried to get her to use a nice, bright pink pen to replace the waxy writing utensil. He described it like it was an antique that would obey every command and will write the essays for her. She wasn't stupid. She took the pen and stepped on it, like she did to everything she didn't like. Clark shook his head at the buck wild child.   
It was a shame that she had homework in the first place. Mar'eyna was a prodigy to Earthlings. She could opt out of college if she wanted to. So why was she bound to something as meaningless as a piece of paper she had to complete at home? On her birthday at that. The staff at her school were animals.  
Despite being so smart, her grades didn't reflect on it. Yeah, there were some A's, but three B's and two C's--one in gym and the other in art--were inexcusable. But what can she say? The arts don't guarantee a career unless you're the next Leonardo. And she works out enough during missions; the pathetic little squats and jumping jacks were inferior to what she had to do outside of school.   
She took advanced honours classes. Law and Astronomy were where her A's were constant. Mar'eyna wanted to be a lawyer more than the Hunger Caterpillar wanted to eat. She watched the earlier seasons of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Special Victims Unit was a bit too mature for her and the fact that someone could make--at the time of 2005--four seasons of different rape cases was disgusting. Besides the shows, she was inspired to prosecute to reach maximum pettiness. She wanted to be the reason someone was dragged into the slammer for ten plus years. It was for the American citizens' own good.

"Guess I should apologise to you. For sabotaging your whole, eh... try out." Mar'eyna had to force out. Before Firestorm was a hero, the next best hero was Danny Blaze. He was pyrokenetic, which is a more villainy skill than something that can do good in her opinion. How does one save the day with flames? Yeah, just evaporate the water this person is drowning in, thanks.   
It wasn't that she wanted to be the only child on the League. It was just that Daniel (That's his real name) wasn't experienced. At least Dick could jump roof top to roof top and wield a weapon. Daniel was just a regular six year old who just gained his abilities after being in Dakota during the Big Bang, an event that caused the inhabitants' genes to mutate and grant them with unnatural powers. That's how my boy Static came to be. I love my chocolate dread head. Mhm. Anyway. Excuse that.   
Mar'eyna was tall and an early bloomer. She was currently in A-cups, not that it matters. Heroes need legs and strong arms to deal with altercations. Daniel, like previously stated, was a normally ageing child. He was a little taller than Dick, so? Height isn't important in crime fighting. Daniel had no experience with using his powers. And to save the Cave from being burnt to the ground from a wannabe Zuko, Mar'eyna might've had her hands over the fire alarm while he performed what he called "his skills." All Daniel did was ignite his finger and Mar'eyna pulled the red lever. He went home drenched, along with any of the hero judges.   
"I was persuaded into saying sorry. There's a nice chocolate donut waiting for me at home with fudge frosting for when I'm done apologising. But maybe if you could control your fire, I wouldn't've had to step in."  
"A spark, a single spark is what I made." Daniel argued.   
"Backtalk; save it for home. Anyway, my bad. Oops. Try out again when you're older. You can go now." Mar'eyna turned him around so he'd face the door. She pushed him forward.   
"Astruma, we don't push." Barry Allen...I mean, Flash, stepped in. He got in between the two children as he scolded her. "Sorry about that Danny. She's just a little...how should I put this?"  
"Obnoxious." Daniel had the courage to say.   
"I will freeze your dick." Mar'eyna threatened. "Don't get cocky."  
Daniel stuck his tongue out at her as Flash escorted him to his waiting parents.   
"Lil' Firelord Ozai fraud ass sock-in-water bitch." She called after him, earning her a yank and a swoop from Diana. As she dangled by her upper arm, Wonderwoman shook her head and shook her index finger.   
"That swear jar is full because of you." She spoke to the child.   
"I learned half the words I know from being here everyday, Princess." Mar'eyna snatched her arm back and flew off.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse the lack of chapter names, on Wattpad, there are no titles.

It took Mar'eyna four years to become a half-decent Lunarian child. She got her menstrual cycle when she was eight, the poor girl. So she was allowed to return to Lunaria and get the ultimate life turner...arounder?? Idk. Anyway. Mar'eyna wasn't fully transitioned into a respectful, functioning member of the American society. But she didn't curse as much, listened to adults, and got into half the fights she would've gotten into four years earlier.   
Aside the from the attitude change, her growth didn't change a bit. She was nine years old and still 4"11 and 94 pounds. She grew into her body a little better. Mar'eyna could control her long lanky legs finally.   
And ever since her return to Earth, she became a better student. There were nothing but 89%-100% on her report cards. She was able to skip yet another grade. At the age of 9, she was a junior in high school. No no, I'm not gonna start writing a high school romance. That's silly. Mar'eyna is just an excellent alumni at her school. Everything was going great. She was on the second level on the cheerleader pyramid, as wasn't aiming to be on the top. Mar'eyna was afraid to be dropped from such a height. Cheerleading and babysitting was how she spent her time when she wasn't studying for SAT's and writing college applications.   
For the few months Mar'eyna was back on Earth, she had been babysitting the same two little boys that lived in the same complex as her and Clark. They lived on the floor below them with their very old parents. Shoot, they must've been around fifty years old. The boys were four and two and skidded their Heelies up and down the halls. Mar'eyna always wanted a pair in pink. Clark refused, telling her she had a pair in black that she never even wore yet. True, Mar'eyna had clothes from when she was four that still had the tags on it and socks still in their packs. She tends to wear the same dozen pairs of clothes and just mix and match the tops and bottoms.

After practice, Mar'eyna's legs were taut and her arms ached. Splits and hand springs weren't her speciality, albeit her agility on missions improved due to doing them for two hours.   
Tuesdays were when she babysat. Mar'eyna always had to rush out of her skirt and midriff high top to teleport to the boys' home and take over for the old couple.   
They needed breaks. Mar'eyna wondered how they were able to have kids while they were so old. And then the mother told her that the boys were actually her grandsons, and that their father dropped them off at their place one day and never came back. So she raised her grandsons like they were her own children. The boys weren't old enough to remember their parents, and believed their grandmother and grandfather were their parents. Rethinking about it made Mar'eyna consider that what she asks was a really personal question, and probably should've kept it to herself.

"So, would you like grilled cheese? Or peanut butter and Fluff?" Mar'eyna offered.   
If you don't know what fluff is, you're too young for Wattpad.   
"I want an all Fluff sandwich!" Nasir, the oldest brother, shouted like Mar'eyna wasn't a foot a half away from him. All Fluff sandwiches were his usual order. Mar'eyna always reminded him that he couldn't just have sugar and bread as an afterschool snack.   
"Didn't daddy leave forty bucks on the coffee table?" That was Abdul, the youngest.   
"He did." Mar'eyna responded as she put a scoop of peanut butter on to a slice of bread. She spread it with the back of the spoon.   
"Then can we go to Pei Wei? It's right near by! I want baby corn!" Abdul latched on to her leg and didn't budge as she tried to shake him off.   
Mar'eyna looked at nothing like she was on The Office and staring at the camera. The boys were such a handful like, eighty percent of the time. She looked away for two seconds and Nasir's hand was in the Fluff jar, scooping out the confection with his boogery fingers. Mar'eyna wanted one reason not to go get their grandmother's belt and spank the two obnoxious toddlers.  
"For dinner." Mar'eyna answered and she cut the sandwiches into triangles.

Adapted to their grandparents schedule, dinner was early. Like five PM early. Old people, right?  
Mar'eyna was going to wait until 6:30 or so to head out. The grandparents called though, and said she could go get them all dinner around 5:45 if they're hungry.

"Can I get uuhhhhh..." Mar'eyna read the menu above and behind the order taker. Idk what they're called. Spare me. "Uhhhh.."  
"Ma'am, you've been standing here for ten minutes. The line is out the door right now." The woman behind Mar'eyna tapped her shoulder. Mar'eyna looked over her shoulder with a scowl.   
"If you waited ten, you can wait fifteen." She retorted. Mar'eyna already ordered the boys' baby corn and shrimp platters. "Acting like there's not three other registers." She mumbled to herself, regarding the impatient woman behind her. "Lemme get the uuhhh. Lo mein. Don't be stingy with the seasoning. Drown that bitch in sweet and sour sauce."  
"$22.68 miss."   
Mar'eyna handed the CASHIER--I think that's what they are--twenty five dollars. She counted the amount of change she'd receive in her head.

While they were eating in, panic began to slowly arise. First, a woman sitting near the door was on the phone. She kept looking over her shoulder to see behind her. People were speed walking to the parking lot, some with hands above their heads. On her call, she told her husband what she was seeing.   
Then everyone in the fake Asian restaurant became aware of what was going on past the glass door. The speedwalkers were made into runners after a loud boom. It wasn't a bomb, it sounded more like a canon. Mar'eyna ignored the potentially dangerous situation and ate her seasoned noodles. She played her iPod on shuffle and shared an ear phone with Abdul. But when people evacuated the restaurant calmly through all different doors, Mar'eyna bagged up her and the boys' food and threw the toddlers into her portal. She opened up the white coloured hole and stepped out among the mass of onlookers.   
There was a group of maniacs in Metropolis. Nothing new, considering most terrorists wanted Superman's attention.   
Crashed buses and swerving cars were the sight to see.   
The group of black clad men were in the middle of the street. Some had guns that seemed to have infinite bullets, and others had store bought grenades that they were throwing aimlessly.   
Mar'eyna couldn't go into the eye of the storm; she had the boys with her. And her costume was at the dry cleaners! How crazy would she look trying to cease chaos in a denim jacket and corduroys? And she handles bank robberies and alien invasions anyway. This wasn't her problem. It was her father's. Speaking of, he was taking his sweet time.   
Mar'eyna checked her Hello Kitty watch for the digital time. 2009 was a whole crisis itself. Fashion wise, I mean. Irrelevant. Anyway.   
She loitered with the scared boys for like ten minutes. And Superman wasn't arriving. Mar'eyna really had no choice but to do what she could for now.   
"Don't move from this spot. I'll be back after I cease this conundrumical altercation."   
"I'm two and I know that's not a word." One of the boys said. I forgot which one was which. Oops. Lazy writer.   
"Shut the hell up Abdel. Who asked?"  
"Abdul." He corrected.   
"Okay." Mar'eyna then flew off. In the air, she tossed her jacket into her portal that lead to home. She landed in front of the wrongdoers and commenced offense immediately.  
"Hiya!" She shouted as she slapped a gun out of one criminal's gun. Mar'eyna summoned the water from the nearby hydrants to repel the bullets shot at her and anyone close enough behind her. The bullets lost momentum and hit the ground. No one was unharmed that she was aware of.   
Being in the air only left the terrorists one offensive attack, and that was shooting. Not like they'd take the time out of their day to break a nine year old's legs.   
The police and SWAT team weren't too helpful since they just added to the flying bullets. Mar'eyna had it all in the bag. She opened her portal twenty feet in radius to capture all the criminals for the time being. Within her space, they couldn't shoot at her. Mar'eyna's portal always formed a protective sphere around her when she was inside. Her painted pink nails wrapped around one of the dark skinned man's hand and twisted his wrist around. It did a full 180 and now his gun was facing him. She showed no mercy as she pushed back the trigger with her two fingers. The rest of the group was paralysed by the immense pressure within the portal. Humans were not used to the atmosphere she was.   
The dark man was struck in the sternum. No blood would spill until Mar'eyna reopened her portal. Right after she yanked the gun out of his hand and tossed it elsewhere, she took care of the rest of her guests. She formed a bat out of ice and started swinging it with no regard. One head did a 360. Mar'eyna didn't necessarily want to kill...but she didn't do the murder, the bat did. She shrugged. Mar'eyna then simply froze handcuffs around the rest of the men. She made her portal open fifty feet off the ground so when the guy she killed fell, it would just look like he broke his neck and bruised up from the fall. Mar'eyna has gotten away with manslaughter on two other occasions.  
The authorities took over from there and Mar'eyna was recognised by locals as Astruma and gave her the appropriate applause and praise, which she graciously accepted as she waved her hand like she would in a pageant. Attention. It's the best. The young girl flew back over to the spot where the two toddlers were SUPPOSED to be. Little jerks done scurried off. Jerks. She asked one man,who was standing where she left the boys, if he saw where they went as she signed him an autograph he didn't necessarily ask for but took anyways.   
"Some tall guy who looked like their dad came and took them up near the strip mall."  
Mar'eyna let out a small noise of understanding. "Ah."  
"Is he you're dad too?"  
"Describe him, random citizen." Mar'eyna said as she thought about how their father was busy that afternoon and how he'd been 70% unable to find them in the crowd.   
"You know, he looked like his kids. He was tall, thirties--"  
"Black?" Mar'eyna put her hands on her hips.   
"Yeah?" The man glanced to the left.   
"Thirties?!" The information she was given finally clicked. Their father was old as hell, man. "Shoot. Thank you fellow American." Mar'eyna flew off to begin her search.   
"I'm actually Canadian..." the man said. He hung his head down low. "Not like anyone cares."

Black guy, middle aged. Kidnapper. What a bunch of twats, those boys. She gave them abduction whistles and the one time they leave them at home, they get snatched up. Mar'eyna rolled her eyes at the thought as she was in the air. Those whistles were $7.50 each and she was not getting that money back. Until she gets paid for her babysitting of course. But still.   
What's ever the motive of kidnapping? Oh wow! You stole a child. You're not a top tier criminal. Watch out murderers! He stole children that can't fight back or defend themselves! Oooooh! Fear the nappers. Fear them! Nappers must be so proud of themselves. Sarcasm.   
Mar'eyna shook her head a little to toss her inner monologue to the side. She landed on one knee--after a miscalculation on how high she was off the ground--in front of the strip mall. It was packed she supposed. Mar'eyna was not looking forward to breaking any windows to possibly have to retrieve the boys. But if it came to that, she had an idea to form a dry ice bat--but but but, listen to this--with spikes! Though before she started breaking and entering, Mar'eyna searched the stores first and ask any managers for some information.

After a nice, flirty discussion with a Five Below cashier, she started her actual track down. He looked a lot like Andrew, and that was probably why Mar'eyna got sidetracked. She bought a few packs of Silly Bandz to wear around her wrists as an addition to her civvies. Mar'eyna waved very femininely to the Andrew doppelgänger before getting serious again. She ran from store to store asking everyone and anyone if they saw two little black boys with a tall black man that could pass for their father. The only person who actually gave her a legitimate answer was an Army vet in a wheelchair. She walked away with the information before he could start having a PTSD related outburst-stroke-attack.   
She stood in front of a parked--admittedly pretty fly and stylish--bright blue car. Her eyes were narrowed as she was ready to get her rescue on the road. Mar'eyna made click noises to block out the sound of her unable to be cracked knuckles. She rolled her head and loosened her shoulders before taking a deep breath. If Nasir and Abdul were in the car like that veteran said, there was going to be a serious problem. Like, someone was leaving the scene in a cop car. Mar'eyna circled the car twice or thrice. No signs of a struggle, no scratches or dents. The windows were heavily tinted and Mar'eyna could barely look inside and see what could've been happening. The car jostled a little in its space and Mar'eyna kicked through the passenger's seat window, now knowing there was someone inside.   
The car must've been soundproof too, because once that glass was broken, screams, blood curdling ones at that, filled the parking lot that was busy was solicitors and panhandlers and regular consumers of Metropolis. Mar'eyna hopped through the window with no regards for her own safety. She looked in the backseat before responding to the black man who was having an issue getting his knife out of his pocket. Nasir was blue in the face with a wire--one of a cheap hanger--around his neck, wrapped a good four times tightly. Mar'eyna could sense his vitals and tell that he wasn't alive. Abdul was the one screaming like a whiney bitch as if he was being tortured. Ugh. Babies.   
Mar'eyna played tug of war with the crook for the camo pocket knife. She reigned supreme of course. She had te handle side and he had the blade side. Rookie mistake. She stabbed him in the arm then in the side. Mar'eyna concluded that he had no other weapons available to fight back. Guns and axes must've been in the trunk. The man pulled on the back of her pants to keep her from grabbing the screaming toddler. When Abdul was safe in her arms, she teleported him out side of the car and left his brother's corpse to deal with later. The nine year old and grown man fought in the front seat, not needing much space to attack each other. Mar'eyna was off her knees as she made icicles from her hands to impale the man with. Right in the eyes. Yeah, that's what he gets for tryna get her fired. Ha. Like she wasn't destined for a steaming pile of charges. Mar'eyna rolled down the window on her side like a civilised person before tucking and rolling out of it. Two bodies in the nice blue car, one was her doing.   
She had to go.   
Mar'eyna melted the ice before taking off with Abdul. The folk of Metropolis were so inobservant. A murder-two!-happened right outside their beloved stores and shops and no one batted an eye when they walked out and saw a smashed window with a guy with no eyes in the front seat.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mar'eyna pines for Kaldur'ahm for like, an hour. Not the main idea.

Swag, froyo, dancing like you were having a seizure...what else could be said about this wretched period in time. Maturing too early, Mar'eyna was a twelve year old needed to buy pads every month and get a new bra every other week. Kal-el refused to believe any child her age couldn't fit a training bra. Wonder Woman was no better with the selection of them, but at least she knew the difference between 36B and 36C. Mar'eyna felt like she was a trendsetter. She started the flower crown way before annoying teenagers flooded Claire's to buy some. She stopped wearing them just to save the bit of originality she had left in her fashion. Mar'eyna didn't start the knit beanies phase, for sure, but she actually didn't mind being on that bandwagon.   
It was winter. A week after her twelfth birthday. Mar'eyna was unaffected by cold temperatures; as she could go out in shorts and a tank and not be fazed. Nonetheless, it was time for initiation. She was the Justice League's famous Astruma; Girl on the Face of the Moon, first sidekick of Superman, first temporary Supergirl, sometimes referred to as Venus. She made that last one up but you get the point. Over the span of three years, three more tagalongs were taken under a member of the League. They were all boys; one was the handsomest fish boy human male hybrid she had ever seen known as Aqualad or Kaldurahm. and a mediocre-in-the-looks, gingered freckled speedster, Kid Flash, aka Wallace West, and a handsome as well, archer named Speedy, or Roy Harper if you may. Dick--Robin--and those guys got more along and had more to talk about than Mar'eyna did with them. Pssh, not like she wanted their attention since she was nine-ish. But damn, it wouldn't hurt her to be invited to one of their all-boys stake out. Not for the male gaze, just to be included in the younger folks' business. It wasn't like her to ask for things like inclusion, she was always the girl who was asked to hang out.   
The four boys were finally being initiated into the actual league. It was like a bar mitzvah for goys who were superheroes; a nice coming of age, step up on the social ladder kinda gig. No cake or ice cream though.   
Mar'eyna was in the Hall of Justice on her super corny and stolen DSI. She snatched it from Abdul the day after the funeral. Hey, it was pink. She thought it was a gift for her bravery and sacrifice that day.   
The adults who didn't have sidekicks were talking about considering more teenagers and younger heroes into the league. Mar'eyna liked the idea of that. She could snatch up the new recruits before Dick could.   
Martian Manhunter was the voice who she heard over the others'. "I do have a niece who was interested in coming to Earth. She's a good girl, likes to study."  
"Why don't you bring her then? If her abilities are anything like yours, she'll be a great addition to the League." Zatarra said. Superman nodded with agreement. "You bring her, I'll bring my daughter."  
Niece? Daughter? Those are female adjectives or nouns, whatever. Mar'eyna's ear twitched as she eavesdropped some more.   
"You know how Mary gets with newbies. I wouldn't want her to drive then out. Let the girls get a feel of place, meet the other younger heroes while I take her some place else." Superman tried to whisper. Mar'eyna was glaring at him, but his back was turned to her.   
"Astruma has changed since Robin arrived. She'd be able to handle herself around more new members." Martian Manhunter said. Mar'eyna smiled as she was flattered. "It will be good for her to be in the presence of some girls her age."   
"Whatever you say, J'onn." Superman finished, dispersing the little group they were all talking in. He walked over to the little one seated sofa she was sitting in and looked over her shoulder.   
"What are you playing there, Mary?"   
"Animal Crossing." She answered. "I take care of my villagers and they give me money. Like good American citizens."   
"You and your Americans." He patted her head before leaving the scene.   
"Wait, daddy! Please come here. I have something to tell you." Mar'eyna called after him. Superman walked back over, asking her what was the matter. "Stop talking shit to me to your friends." She whispered in his ear.   
"Talk like that to me again and I'll confiscate your Nintendo." He pointed at the device as he threatened the possession of it. Then he walked off again.   
"You sir, are not a good American." Mar'eyna mumbled to herself.

"What an ungrateful little bastard!" Mar'eyna said with a raised voice to the Leaguers, mostly Green Arrow. "You're his mentor, tell him to get his ass back here. Here, you can use this." Mar'eyna took off her thin brown belt and handed it to the blonde bearded archer. "Gotta whip it hard, it's a light belt."  
Roy, aka Speedy, left the Hall in a huff, complaining about only seeing the inside of the hall. The hell did he expect? Newbies, always wanting more than what they can chew. She was the only one who saw the League's station in space. He was only a sidekick for two years if not a little more. You have to earn that space tour.   
The other three boys were embarrassed for him.   
"Uh, thanks Astruma. But Speedy's almost an adult. He can do what he wants." Green Arrow handed her her belt back. "And hey, you're out of uniform. You know the rules: can't be in here with your civvies."   
"Worry about your own kid." Mar'eyna said before walking away, only to be stopped and turned around by Superman. "Watch, he's gonna become a heroin addict if you don't give a nice whooping or two. Gotta put a bitch in his place."  
"Ironic." Dick said, recalling her behaviour over the years.   
"Well, to the rest of you, welcome to the League." Martian Manhunter said. There was weak, but plentiful applause for the newcomers. Mar'eyna rolled her eyes as she clapped slowly for a hint of sarcasm.   
"Try not to revolt against your mentors in a jealous rage." Mar'eyna said.   
"Don't give them any ideas, Astruma." Aquaman joked as he nudged Kaldur'ahm.  
Mar'eyna approached her dark skinned crush. And she took his hand, saying she could give him the tour, then telling the rest of the rookies they could tag along if they wanted. Kaldur'ahm's arm was stiff as she snuggled up to it as they walked. The light fuzz on his arm tickled the side of Mar'eyna's face.  
Their platonic relationship was about three years strong until Mar'eyna decided she liked Kaldur. At that time, a few months ago, Kaldur was in love with Tula. He didn't return Mar'eyna feelings. He never told her that to spare her the heartache. Kaldur always thought being with her would be inappropriate anyway. He was fifteen, the oldest of the protégés. She was the youngest, at a mere twelve years old. He knew she was mature, but to him, age was more than a number. Mar'eyna was catching his drift and all. But she thought a couple more nudges would have him come to her. Her internal agreement with herself was if he still liked Tula for one more month, she'd back off.   
"That's the training simulator or something. I dunno the actual name. But it creates hologram combatants that you can fight." Mar'eyna pushed one of the buttons to start up the simulator. "There's more like this at the Mountain."  
"So there's more meet up spots the League hasn't shown us?" Kid Flash, Wally, asked. "Did they actually think we'd be satisfied with seeing the inside of a dome with nothing but bookshelves, couches, and a projector? Maybe Roy was right, they don't trust us enough."  
"Trust has nothing to do with us not going to the Cave yet. Like Mary said, were new to the Justice League. We just joined today." Kaldur'ahm said.   
"Still! They've known us for three years now. Don't you think they would trust us as not just sidekicks?" Kid Flash argued. "This isn't about the Hall or Cave anymore. This is about our mentors."  
"You're actually rendering what that future crack head was rambling about? Wally, my nigga, come on now. If yous weren't trustworthy, would you even be here at all?" Mar'eyna said as she powered down the simulator. "Flash is your uncle, you know he trusts you."  
"As my uncle!" KF retorted. "Not as Kid Flash."  
At least Dick wasn't being a dick about the whole initiation. He was more passive like Kaldur'ahm about it.   
"Then go confront your mentors about it. I'm just the tour guide. Not the counsellor." Mar'eyna walked out the training room and motioned for them to follow. They were back in the sight of the tourists on the other side of the glass. "Daddy! The sidekicks don't know their place." She began. "Why won't you show them Mount Justice. Since their panties are in a twist over it."  
"You all too?" Zatarra asked in a shocked tone. "I only thought Speedy was the one with the loose screws. Speaking of, maybe you should keep Astruma's belt Green Oliver." He was wiping down a wand with a white kerchief.   
"With all do respect my king," Kaldur'ahm said to Aquaman. "We feel like we've worked alongside our mentors long enough for us to be shown everything a member of the League has seen. We are part of your team now, but we still feel like sidekicks."  
Dick said, "Well said."  
"That sums it up." Kid Flash added.   
"Maybe they're right." Wonder Woman leaned to say to Superman.   
"You're not experienced enough to get the full League..experience." Green Arrow said.   
"Not experienced enough?! I've been scaling roof tops and cuffing bad guys since I was nine!" Dick said.   
"Yeah, that was a low blow Oliver." Mar'eyna instigated. "Tell him Robin."  
Dick sighed to calm himself. He faced the rest of the protesting protégés. "Look, if we don't like the way we're being treated, we should just form our own League."   
Though the low key dissing of the statement, the older Leaguers thought it was a good idea. It would give any younger heroes a chance to further their experience among people their own age.   
Martian Manhunter spoke for the Justice League. "You can use Mount Justice as your base."  
Dick raised his eyebrows in surprise that the adults actually liked his idea.   
"Fine with us." Kid Flash said.   
"Will you be joining them, Kaldur?" Aquaman asked him. Kaldur'ahm looked around the room, questioning. Should he stay with his king, his mentor? Or go with his friends?  
"With all do respe--"  
"Not another word. You're old enough to make you're own decisions." Aquaman put his hand on his Aqualad's shoulder. "Be free my guppy."   
The three sidekicks snickered to themselves at the ridiculous nickname. Kaldur'ahm's face was red under his darkness.   
"Then it's settled." Batman finally chimed in.   
"Seeya rookies." Mar'eyna went over to the grown up side. "Aren't you glad I'm not rebellious like them, Dad?"  
Wonder Woman nudged Superman. They had recently discussed a new age policy a few days before initiation. Now would be the perfect time to enforce it.   
"Actually, Mary..." Superman began. Her eyes were already widening from the time of his voice. She knew she'd have to demoted to a rookie.   
"No no no no! Daddy, I have too much knowledge to be with them. I know too much about League conspiracies and secrets. I haven't been your side kick for two years. I'm not Supergirl anymore, I'm Astruma, my own heroine. Don't do this to me, I'm begging you. Daddy please."  
"I know I know. But maybe being around people your age will be good for you." He tried to compromise. "The Cave has that really big TV you like to watch Four Weddings on. And you can have you're own room."  
"I have my own room at home. If I go with these heathens--no offence Aqualad--, I'm not living with them. What if I get gangbanged because I'm the only girl in sight to satisfy their hormones? Ever think about that Dad? Probably not you selfish prick. I could lose my virginity if you enforce this. I won't be your innocent angel anymore."  
His daughter was making good points, inappropriate ones, but good points. Superman knew the boys were good kids. But if he did make her go, she'd be the only girl until Martian Manhunter's niece and Zatarra's daughter came.   
"You don't have to live there. It'll just be your new team's rendezvous point; home base." Superman settled.   
Mar'eyna looked over to the boys she'd have to deal with for the rest of her career. Kid Flash waved at her.   
"I want a new costume tailored as compensation." Mar'eyna said. "It must embrace my youth, nothing to flashy, cape--no--, no cape. Gloves, yes."  
"Fair enough." Superman agreed. She was still latched on to his cape, not wanting to go over to the protégée side just yet.   
"I'll call you if I'm inappropriately touched." Mar'eyna patted his chest as assurance.   
"That won't be necessary." Red Tornado stepped in from te Zeta tubes. Where the hell was he at? "You four will be under my 24/7 surveillance. Consider me a chaperone to your school dance,"  
"And I'll be your personal trainer." Black Canary stepped forward. 

And thus, a new generation of heroes was made. Spare me. I feel like I forced this chapter so much. Ugh. Now I gotta design a new costume drawing to imagine Mar'eyna in as I write. I don't even proofread these things. This whole story has been off the top of my head. Gm.


	7. Chapter 6

The cave wasn't too bad, Mar'eyna supposed. The boys weren't too rowdy and she didn't have to use her rape whistle at all. Relating to them was hard, as Wally only talked about girls and Robin only talked about how out of date the tech in the Cave was. Kaldur'ahm was sadly keeping his distance from her. Red Tornado wasn't exactly someone she could gossip about the sad excuses of cheerleading tryouts she had to sit through. By the way, she was now co-captain. Next year, she'd be graduating high school after purposely failing twice to stay on the squad for longer. And the actual captain was graduating this year, so Mar'eyna could have her glory in the year books of being the first extraterrestrial cheer captain. She took up the training room to practice on the beams and such. Robin would have to wait hours to use the rings. Not her problem; he could've gotten there first.   
The protégés were their own team for only about a week. They were all bored with the lack of assignments and missions they were given. Wally and Robin constantly pestered Red Tornado about giving them something to do. Kaldur'ahm was always on the sand outside the cave, not even pacing. He just sat there looking at the ocean. Mar'eyna always peeped him and assumed he just missed his fishy crush. He was so dramatic, it wasn't like he couldn't see her ever again. The ocean was right there! He could swim to her whenever he pleased, but instead Kaldur'ahm just sat, longing to run his fingers through her crispy from sea salt, ginger hair. Those are Mar'eyna's words, not his. Again, not her problem.   
Finally, SOMEONE Zeta-d in. Mar'eyna was grateful for some company other than the sidekicks's.   
It was literally the entire Justice League that was based in America, even Hawkgirl was there, and she was completely irrelevant in every way, shape, and form. Standing beside Martian Manhunter was a girl who looked like a normal human painted green.   
"This is my niece," he introduced. "Miss Martian."  
Mar'eyna thought that was the most creative name she had ever heard. She chuckled at the simplicity and stupidity of the alias.   
"Hi, I'm M'gann! Nice to meet you." She floated over to Mar'eyna on the long leather sofa. "You must be Mar'eyna Koran. We've all heard about you on Mars. My uncle sent some of the times you were broadcasted on the news. You're very brave." She shook her hand vigorously.   
The room was dead silent. I mean, dead silent. Not even the faint sound of the waves crashing could be heard.   
Mar'eyna had been compromised.   
Only a handful of people knew her real identity. And one green bitch exposed her to literally EVERY LEAGUER STATIONED IN AMERICA. What a dickhead!  
"" Mar'eyna shouted in Lunarian before tackling Miss Martian in the air. She blew her frost breath in the green girl's face all down her body to freeze her as a whole. Miss Martian was frozen with a confused expression. "Yous better watch out. I'm shattering this hoe." Mar'eyna formed a dry ice axe and lifted it over her head. She was yanked from behind as she knew Flash swiftly confiscated her axe and melted it by rubbing his hands together at super speed. She muttered to herself as she turned around on the floor to see who dragged her to the damn ground. Her scowl disappeared as she saw it was her knight in a Lantern Corps uniform, Hal Jordan. He was so handsome in civvies. And they were right on top of each other, oh my, what a coincidence. Just before she could pin him down and assert dominance, Green Lantern picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He separated Mar'eyna from the scene she created.   
M'gann was thawed out quickly by Flash. Her knees hit the ground as she could finally move.   
"Did I do something wrong?" M'gann asked her uncle.   
"We shall talk later."

"I'm not that young." Mar'eyna protested. "I'm very mature for my age. Physically and mentally." Her arm was linked with Hal's as they walked back to the welcome party for M'gann.   
"You just turned twelve." He said. "I've already told you to not ask to get with me until you're twenty-one."  
"Eighteen." She tried to get her way.   
"No."

Ever since then, Mar'eyna passion towards Hal Jordan burned even more...I mean. Yeah, she hated M'gann's guts since then. Reading her mind like that. What an unbelievable invasion of privacy. Mar'eyna should've teleported her right back to Mars. Little bitch. Mar'eyna did apologise for the whole freezing her fiasco. M'gann believed everything between them was good, no more bad blood. She couldn't've have been more wrong. In her defence, it was hard to tell Mar'eyna's feelings. Mar'eyna offered to paint her nails and get their brows done together and even talk about boys at her place in Metropolis. M'gann wasn't bad company at all. Mar'eyna was just going to forever hold a grudge for M'gann's little outburst.   
"And then Kal just hugged me out of nowhere. From behind. That made it like a million times more romantic." Mar'eyna narrated to her new female acquaintance. "I wasn't even expecting him to come to my competition. He brought flowers and everything. I think I'm in the zone."   
There was a cheer competition a few days ago and Kaldur'ahm was a surprise guest at the event. Mar'eyna was glad that he got to see her in her midriff revealing stop and miniskirt; the shorts took away from the sexiness, but it was still something. Mar'eyna gave him a kiss on the cheek for him being present, unlike Andrew who swore he'd make it.   
"When I used my psychic abilities on him while he was napping, I saw he was dreaming about you. But you had a star on your costume instead of a moon." M'gann said. She blew on Mar'eyna freshly painted hand. Mar'eyna had painted M'gann's nails a nice deep purple prior. M'gann's toes were done dark red.   
"Strange. Why are you watching him sleep in the first place? Back off my man."  
"No, listen. It's not like that." M'gann explained. "He fell asleep on the couch and I was sitting near him."  
"Okay."

Seriously, being at Mount Justice was such a blast. Eye roll, okay. Mar'eyna loved getting out and having a reason to wear her costume. See, if Dick's stupid idea wasn't so good, she'd still be on the Justice League, probably zapping off some alien heads and freezing the testicles off Lex Luthor. New Years break was past over. Mar'eyna was back and forth going to school, home, then the Cave. The world's issues were few besides poverty and famine and war and disease. Superheroes can't really help in those situations unless they can conjure tonnes of food from their palms or you know. Either way, the most Mar'eyna did that month was a cartwheel and save a cat from a tree. She didn't even really save it, it just jumped onto her head while she was walking home. Reminded of the day, Mar'eyna rubbed the scratch on the top of her head. Ass of a feline.   
The Team--that's what they decided to call themselves for whatever reason--was in search of some fresh meat, and I mean that in the most appropriate way possible. Mar'eyna didn't bother the other members on their search since she actually had a life outside of the Cave unlike Robin who only went home to count stacks of cash and then sleep. Loser. Zatarra's daughter still hadn't made an appearance like he promised. The only new recruits they got as of January 2013 was Danny Blaze and Artemis; Green Arrow's "niece" and new protege. Mar'eyna persuaded M'gann that Artemis didn't like her, and that they shouldn't invite her to their sleepovers or welcome her into their circle. So it was just the Lunarian and the Martian. Eventually, M'gann began to think for herself and read Artemis's mind to see her true intentions. Seeing that they were all good, she notified Mar'eyna about it. Mar'eyna had to act like the news was new and like she didn't know that Artemis meant no harm. But ugh, now her and Miss Martian couldn't be the ETBFFs; the Extraterrestrial Best Friends Forever. Mar'eyna guessed the species diversity would be a good image. Mar'eyna couldn't be fake or bossy with Artemis because the blonde wasn't completely an airhead like M'gann when it came to persuasion and peer pressure. Mar'eyna liked Artemis for the most part; her hair was longer to braid unlike M'gann's shorter brown hair. And Artemis knew more Earth things like movies and fast food restaurants than M'gann did.   
Mar'eyna and Danny Blaze still were on bad terms since the whole "drenching him during his League tryouts" thing in 2005-ish. Honestly, Mar'eyna thought he would've let it go. She had to admit, he developed into quite the looker. Her crush on Aqualad faded after Danny showed back up. The flame boy still couldn't compare to Green Lantern though. He could try, but he'd fail. Miserably.   
"Please give us a mission RT. We're dying here." Wally begged.   
"Your vitals are fine." Red Tornado responded in his, I guess, computerised voice.   
"Come on. There's nothing to do around here. Can't you give us an assignment? You're part of the league." Robin joined Wally's side. "What was the point of making this team if we don't do anything?"  
"Youse know that we can just go on patrol by ourselves and find our own missions. Why should we need permission from the League anymore?" Mar'eyna called from her place in the kitchen while everyone was gathered in the living space in front of it.   
"Mary's not wrong." Robin co-signed; that's proper wording for the slang word, dick eating.   
"Or we can go through the League's files and sort out some of their problems for them." Mar'eyna offered more suggestions. She closed the fridge and put ingredients for her sandwich on the kitchen island. "That wouldn't be illegal because superheroes and sidekicks are above the law. Who's interested? If you don't agree, your mom's a hoe. You're exempt from that Dick, may yours rest peacefully."  
"Have you no filter?" Danny turned around in his seat to face the Moon child wearing an apron for just the preparation of a sandwich. Mar'eyna finally had an excuse to stare at the handsome teen. She narrowed her white coloured eyes at him while he did the same with his green ones. She never noticed that beauty mark on the side of his nose. Cute.   
"Have you no...shoot, you're lucky I can't think of anything right now Zuko."  
"Are you calling me Zuko from Grease? Or from Avatar?"  
"That could go both ways. The guy from the movie's name is Danny Zuko right?"  
"Yeah."  
"I'll flip a coin next time to decide on what reference imma use." Mar'eyna finished. "We're getting off track. Let's raid the Hall of Justice. Get your costumes; stealth mode."  
"It's noon." Artemis added in her two cents, which Mar'eyna didn't fully appreciate.   
"Then just wear a nice blue shirt to match the noon sky. Jeez. Team, let's roll out." Mar'eyna hopped over the kitchen island, leaving the bread out to mold away. She did front hand flips until she reached her room where she could change. The rest of the Team followed her idea and changed for the raid.


	8. Chapter 7

Mar'eyna was slightly out of place with a light blue shirt knotted at the end, only worn to spite Artemis. It didn't go with the pink skirt half of her dress. Her hair was in butterfly clips just for her to add more blue to even out the shirt and dress. Mar'eyna knew she looked like a five year old with her hair done that way. And Daniel kept trying to touch the clips, only to get his hand slapped each time.   
"Stop it, homo." She said through her teeth as she smacked the Aryan's hand extra hard.   
"I'm not even gay." Daniel kept pestering her knowing that she was beyond bothered by it.   
"Now that we wasted ten minutes of valuable recap time waiting for Mar'eyna to do her hair, let's go over the plan again." Robin pulled up one of those new fangled computer holograms. He clicked around and narrated everyone's instructions. Sorry, I'm too lazy to actually explain specifics. It's 7:00 AM. "Did you all get that?"  
"We can't use the Zeta tube. They'll know we're in there." Artemis spoke out.   
"That's why he said we're using my portal to get in." Mar'eyna explained to her blonde buddy. "All we are really doing is sneaking in and then sneaking out. Five minutes. I'll take us right into the file room, youse pick and choose whatever mission you want, and we beat it." Her new plan contradicted Robin's plan completely. But she made it more simple for them and hers assured they wouldn't get caught.   
"Then let's put it in action." Kid Flash said as he put his goggles over his face. His costume was in stealth mode, earning him the nagging of Artemis, bitching that he didn't need to be in that mode. He begged Mar'eyna to just open the portal so he could escape the beast. She answered his pleas and opened her purple ringed portal wide enough to swallow Kaldur'ahm eight feet away. The Team fell through the floor while Mar'eyna and Miss Martian floated down elegantly.   
While the mere humans who couldn't fly dusted themselves off, Mar'eyna and M'gann began shuffling through portfolios H through L. Prior, M'gann stuck her finger into the keyhole and shifted her finger into the shape of the key so they could get in. Danny Blaze got the gist and went over to another filing cabinet and broke into it. He scrounged through W to Z. Artemis had her arrows at the ready while she was on look out. Wally zoomed around the desk draws and stacks of paper in the room for something the Team could build a covert operation on. Aqualad was on the opposite side of the threshold, on look out with Artemis. Robin assisted the two girls with their portfolios. Every mission in the room was either completed or completely too frivolous to even consider taking on. Was being the squad that caught the crook who broke into homes to sniff panties really the name they wanted for themselves? Why was that even a League issue?  
"What's this?" Wally said from behind a desk he was searching. The Team gathered around his to check out what the speedster had in his hand. Wally opened the folder reading Project Kr in big, bold letters with 'project' in capitals. The group was shocked with the contents of the first page, which had two pictures on top of one another, pinned to the paper with a paper clip.   
"How come this isn't the League's main priority?" Robin asked hypothetically.   
"The question should be; are we gonna do something about it?" Mar'eyna spoke at an appropriate volume for sneaking about.   
The group was quiet. Maybe that specific folder was something they should leave for the League, considering the difficulty and complicity of the issue. But they didn't go snooping to go back empty handed. Though, they all agreed mentally that taking care of a hostage situation or a drug bust was more their speed. But taking on Project Kr would give them the respect from the League they yearned for.   
After the ten seconds of silence and looking for peer approval, they all just shrugged and nodded in agreement that Project Kr was going to be their first big mission as a team.   
"Grab the folder and lets go." Kaldur'ahm ordered.   
"Woah woah woah, since when do you make the commands?" Kid Flash stepped up to his Atlantean buddy, who raised an arched brow at him.   
"Since I heard footsteps coming. Astruma, open your portal." Kaldur'ahm passed Kid Flash to tell her.  
Mar'eyna did as she was told. The Team was teleported back to the Cave in half a second. The Team was breathing heavily as if the door was opening just as they began their escape. The suspense was what made them hyperventilate. Dramatic was what they were. The footsteps were like a whole minute away. Like calm yourselves.

The pre-teens and teenagers disbanded for the rest of the day, which was a weird shift in schedule considering on weekends, they all went home or to their respective rooms in the Cave around eight-nine-ish. It was only 12:45 when everyone went their separate ways that day. The girls wanted to rendezvous at Artemis's place since they'd never saw it. The archer was really skeptic about the idea, considering her mother just got home from prison two days ago. Plus her room wasn't clean so. Yeah, gotta make good first impressions.  
"Well, I've never been to your house before. So why don't we go there?" Artemis brought to attention. "I bet Metropolis is lit around this hour." Her sometimes raspy voice and frequent voice cracks were two reasons that Mar'eyna just wanted to duct tape her friend's mouth.   
"It's Sunday. No one is outside doing anything. It's not lit. We're going to your place." Mar'eyna said. She nudged M'gann to agree.   
"It is Sunday. We should focus on ready for the school week." M'gann chimed in, passively taking Artemis's side on not going to her house, seeing the blonde's uncomfortableness. "We can all get together at my Uncle J'onn's apartment on Friday. I'll make cookies!"  
"The place doesn't really matter. We just need to get girly and have pillow fights and talk about boys. You know, keep our femininity in tact." Mar'eyna said as she fixed a butterfly clip in her hair. "If youse are closet dykes, we can just do the pillow fight."  
"Closet what nows?" Artemis put her hand on her hip.   
"Closet dykes. That's Ebonics for secretly a lesbian." Mar'eyna whispered, not wanted to out her possibly gay friends.   
"What's...'Ebonics?'" M'gann asked, finger quotes around Ebonics.   
"I dunno. I learned the word offa BET. I think it's the language niggers talk in." Mar'eyna explained. "It's like English, but with a dash of Jim Crow sprinkled in. Also 200 years of oppression."  
Artemis just stood their with her glove hand hovering over her parted mouth. Mar'eyna really had no filter. And the fact she was so comfortable with saying..the N word...in a public area. So bold.   
"Mar'eyna, you can't say...the N word. Kaldur is like ten feet away." Artemis tried to make her friend a little more open minded to the person of colour in the room.   
"Right, but he's not black. He's a dark skinned Atlantean. So I'm not offending anyone here."  
"So, Friday right?" M'gann said in her clueless bimbo voice.   
"Sure." The two other girls sighed, stopping their petty squabbling. The trio separated and scattered around the room to converse with the boys around. Mar'eyna went over to thirteen year old who'd be irresistible if she had maybe a shot or two of Hennessy. Not much alcohol was needed to see the handsomeness in Daniel's face. When he didn't have that domino mask on, his green eyes could be seen with that iconic gleam that just made Mar'eyna pubescent heart melt. If she could take Hal's body, Daniel's face, Kaldur'ahm's soft voice, and Andrew's personality, she'd have the perfect man. She smiled uncontrollably as she thought about her dream guy. Daniel was severely confused as to why the girl who humiliated him in front of the Justice League seven years ago was smiling at him like that. It was the same smile he had during class when he recalled a dirty magazine he snatched from his older brother's bedroom deep in the closet.   
"What?" He spoke rudely.   
"Look. I already apologised for the making you wet thing in '05--"  
"Woah, pause." Daniel smirked.   
"You stop that now." Mar'eyna would've shoved him if he wasn't scorching to the touch. "Can't we just have a normal, teammate to teammate discussion?"  
"What about?"  
"Well, I dunno. I don't really know what to talk about with you since we haven't been in touch since...you know."  
"'05?" Daniel finished.   
"Mhm." Mar'eyna nodded her head.   
"I mean, I'm still holding a serious vendetta against you for humiliating me but I guess we could catch up. For plot's sake." Daniel took off his mask as he spoke. A tingle went straight through Mar'eyna's body, to her chest from her stomach. Great, now she was staring. Daniel always though her eyes were abnormal. Her lack of pupils and the illusion that she didn't have irises either just made him shudder sometimes. If he got close enough, he could certainly see Mar'eyna's off white irises against the whites of her eyes. But still, ew. He waved a hand in front of her face to get her outta her daze.   
"Staring is rude." Daniel said.   
"Not when it's for admiration." Mar'eyna took off her pink-lensed mask and pulled her hair over her shoulders. Daniel had a face like he that meme of the lady surrounded by arithmetic. You should know what I'm talking about.   
Did she just...? Admiration?   
Now his eyes were narrowed as he tried to read her.   
"What?" He tilted his head a bit. "Astruma, was that a flirt?"  
Mar'eyna narrowed her eyes too.   
"What if it was?"  
Daniel hesitated his response. He had to play it cool. Besides hating the girl in front of him for the fire alarm thing, he might've had a different set of feelings. He preferred blondes, but white was close to blonde sorta. Look, as a thirteen year old boy, his standards were simple: boobs, hair, and a face. Mar'eyna met those standard with a little extra to give so he just couldn't refuse what she was gonna offer.   
"If it was, then I'd ask you if you're tryna get a piece of," he grazed the shape of his body with his hands like he was greasing himself. "This."  
"I wouldn't mind a sliver or two." Mar'eyna then proceeded to tap him on the chest quickly before his high body temperature made the finger of her glove burn off. "Boop."  
Daniel began to fathom that her reason for drenching him in '05 was because she was trying to conceal her little crush on him. How naughty. Keeping her heart bottled up for seven years; he started to feel more irresistible than he got credit for. At the same time, he thought that maybe his vendetta wasn't that strong. Mar'eyna was severely good looking in his pubescent, hormonal mind. But so was Artemis, Miss Martian when she wasn't green, Black Canary, Wonder Woman...the list could go on. He sighed aloud. He supposed he could settle for the moon chick considering that most of the other woman on his list were older, and being younger than the woman was a societal no-no.   
"I guess I can take you out or something." Daniel looked over his shoulder to avoid eye contact, you know, to look like he didn't care.   
"Wow! Really?" Mar'eyna folded her hands near her chest. "That would be amazing. I've actually never been on a real date before. Despite my gorgeous genetics, perfect body, and wonderful personality."  
"That's probably because you're not legal." Daniel looked back at her and she was making a 'what did you just say, fag?' face. "I mean in age, not...not race." He corrected his statement.   
"Oh. My mistake." She said sarcastically. "So I'll see you Thursday." Mar'eyna started to walk to the Zeta tubes because it was draining to open portals. Daniel snatched her wrist, honestly intending to only give her tug, to stop her for a quick second. Mar'eyna sucked her teeth as her glove wasn't heat resistant; Daniel was burning her. He let go quickly, realising his soon-to-be-date was in pain. It was weird to him; when he went through the files, he didn't scorch anything. But once he touched a person, he hurt them. Talk about a vex.   
"I didn't m--" He exclaimed before getting cut off. All attention was on them as Mar'eyna started to sniffle from her injury. Her girlfriends rushed over to her to see what was ailing her.   
"What did you do?" Artemis questioned through clenched teeth like a bad ventriloquist.  
"Nothing! I was tryna tell her that I have a check up on Thursday." Daniel tried to explain.   
And like she was healed from all wounds and forgiven for all her sins, Mar'eyna stopped sniffling and grasping her burned area.   
"Oh wait, I have cheer stuff on Thursday too."   
"That's,,,convenient? But are you okay?" Daniel reached out, but then brought his arm back not wanting to burn her again.   
"I'm Gucci." See, 2012 was a time when this wasn't a well known phrase. "I'll see you Saturday. I'm busy Friday too." And Mar'eyna made it to the Zeta Tubes and went right on home.


	9. Chapter 8

TW: anorexia, skip if you want, you won't miss anything.

Mar'eyna felt so powerful walking down her school's beige lockered hallway, pompoms both in one hand while the other held a megaphone. Cheerleaders were supposed to be in school uniform unless they were at a school assembly, rally, or practice. But being co-captain, she could wear her cheer miniskirt and crop top with long sleeves for a little modesty whenever she pleased.   
Her cheer posse consisted of two other girls; Esther, the senior captain who was graduating in a few months. She was serious about her schoolwork, aiming for Yale or Harvard. Esther wasn't as peppy as Mar'eyna when it came to cheering on their school's teams, but she did the sickest flips. The other chick was Gail. She'd be co-captain when Mar'eyna became captain. She was a pretty, little sophomore who only wanted to get a quarterback boyfriend. Gail was like Mar'eyna and Esther's little protégé. They showed her the ropes and such.   
They didn't brag about having the opportunity to be on the first and second levels of the pyramid. But if you wanted to join them on the team, good luck. The three of them had very strict rules for those who wanted to join; most people couldn't go far enough to follow. The rest of the cheerleaders would probably take anyone who could do a split. Things changed when Esther was in charge.   
Previous tryouts were hell. The trio went around holding down joining girls's backs as they tried to get up from their splits. So what if four of them cried? Gail even whipped one girl who couldn't stick a landing with a jump rope. Mar'eyna was more of a verbal attacker than a physical one. Couldn't do a somersault? Prepare to have every traumatic childhood memory thrown back at you.   
No one joined the squad that tryout. Nobody was qualified enough; to them. There was only enough cheerleaders to make a four level pyramid. So like, I'm guessing that means there's ten girls. Yeah.   
Esther kicked the bulk of them off after the earlier cheer competition. But to go to regionals, they'd need six more girls to qualify. Re-do tryouts were held that Thursday.   
The three girls sat behind a fold out table in the gymnasium, in grade order with Mar'eyna in the middle. Their arms were crossed, not happy with the turnout.   
Fifty girls were in that gym. Twenty had a fifty percent chance of making it. Ten were probably flexible enough. Six would have to do.   
The issue was the majority of them didn't meet Esther's very simple and ethical standards.   
Gail had a hair tie in her mouth as she held up her straight, brown hair to make a ponytail. Mar'eyna secured the cheerleader bow, the popular clique insignia, in her protégé's hair after it was tied. Mar'eyna preferred to have her hair in childish pigtails for practice. Esther rolled her eyes as she got up to address the sorry excuses for alumni. She had Mar'eyna's megaphone in her hand.   
"If you don't know who I am already, you've probably been living your high school life under a fucking boulder. But enough with the introductions." Esther turned on the megaphone and shouted into it as if it didn't already make her voice louder. "Four out of five of you aren't making my squad!"   
She was good at striking fear into the young bouls. Esther just had an overall intimidating...everything.   
Mar'eyna tugged on the back of Esther's skirt by leaning forward. Esther looked over her shoulder. The junior mouthed that she wanted to take over from there. Esther unwillingly handed Mar'eyna back her megaphone and sat down. She told Gail to pay attention to what she was about to do as she got up.   
"Raise your hand if you know our school cheer." Mar'eyna asked the group, no megaphone needed. She sounds like Dove Cameron when she's playing as Liv on that one show; really high pitched. Along with the pigtails, she could actually pass for a twelve year old if she didn't have the figure and height of an actual junior.   
Thirty girls raised their hands.   
Mar'eyna went to the twenty girls who had their hands down and told them to "get the loving hell out" of the gym. The next question was, "How many of youse are over 125 in pounds?" She got five responders. They were evicted from the gym with a nice, "Come back after you take some laxatives!" From Gail, who weighed her happy 110 lbs. Mar'eyna grabbed one girl leaving by the shoulder and pushed her back into the line of twenty-five girls.   
"Now there's twenty six of youse who wanna join our team." Mar'eyna motioned over to her group at the table. "Twenty of youse are going to go home and cut and starve yourselves because you didn't make try outs."  
Esther nudged Gail to get up and stand next to Mar'eyna as she was about to start the physical part.   
Mar'eyna went over to the school's boom box and let whatever track came in first. She tapped her foot to get the beat down.   
"Starting from the left, two people at a time, step up and show us what you can do." Mar'eyna grabbed Gail's hand and led her to the centre. She tossed her some white pompoms as she used her own black and yellow ones. Mar'eyna whispered to Gail the routine they'd demonstrate. "Front flip, no hand flip forward, turn, air split, left foot kick. Got it Gail?"  
"You should be asking these suckers that." The lower grade girl smirked as she made a respectable space between her and Mar'eyna. They extended their arms to begin. Two perfect front flips, no hand forward flip, turn, air split, and left foot kick were executed.   
"You all should be following!" Esther yelled from her seat with her hands cupped around her mouth to project her voice further.   
Frightened once more, the line of girls scrambled to copy the girls in front of them. The two first girls were alright. But alright wasn't good in Esther's book. She got upand turned off the music. All she could do was shake her head and point to the door.   
"You," Esther went over to the girl who was spared by Mar'eyna. "Do you think that was hard?"  
"Yes."  
"Why?" Gail arched a brow and gave the girl a dirty look. "That's the 101 stuff."  
"Not everyone can do a split." The girl said.   
"Can you do one?" Mar'eyna joined her posse in the interrogation.   
The girl nodded.   
"Then don't worry about what anyone else can't do." Esther finished. She turned the music back on. "Show us the routine." The three girls headed back behind the table.

Fortunately, the girls found five proficient ladies to accept into their clique. All they needed was a tiny bit of coaching and they'd be perfect. And then there was Mar'eyna's little pardoned girl; nowhere as pretty as the rest of squad, short and stout, and she stuck out like a sore thumb. But she was the most agile of all the girls trying out.   
Esther invited the six new girls to her apartment that she shared with her older cousin, who Gail and Mar'eyna both agreed was too hot to be related to her. The other seven girls on the squad were not invited.   
Being brought to Esther's was like the beginning of a sorority initiation. Nothing good came out of attending.   
Three pizzas were ordered; all cheese to respect any vegans. They were the first test. There was, in total, twenty-four slices. Ten girls, twenty-four slices of pizza. There'd be some left over if everyone had the same amount.   
"Dig in." Esther said after she distributed the plates. Her clique let the newbies serve themselves first.

After everyone had two slices, four were left over. Gail called two of the thinner girls to Esther's room to separate them. Mar'eyna told the four left over girls to "finish up."   
They did.   
Rookie mistake.   
See, if you took a third slice, it wouldn't stay down for long. To be a cheerleader with Esther as your captain and Mar'eyna as the co-captain, you have to be less 120 lbs. Not an ounce more. Enforcing her rule, Mar'eyna told the four girls to head to the bathroom. She handed out four Popsicle sticks.   
"If I were to weigh 119 pounds, and a slice of Giovanni's pizza is 600 calories and I eat three, how many calories did I gain?" Mar'eyna asked her pardon girl.   
"Thousand eight hundred."  
"Mhm. And if I eat two thousand calories, and I go a thousand eight hundred over my set daily intake, what do I gain?"  
"Half a pound." Pardon girl answered.   
"Great. So now I'm borderline overweight. I'm now 119.5 pounds. Oh no! But I can't be an overweight cheerleader now can I? What ever shall I do to lose those calories?" Mar'eyna fake pouted. Esther smirked near the door as the catch was building up.   
"Exercise?" One newbie chimed in.   
"Takes too long to work." Mar'eyna said. "For quick results, we use our Popsicle sticks. Form a line to the toilet. When it's your turn, put the stick as far back on your tongue as you can. Don't hold back a gag. Lemme show youse." Mar'eyna pulled her pardon girl to the front of the line. The girl put the stick on the flat of her tongue as far back as she could. She gagged. The objective was to vomit, not pathetically gag. Mar'eyna pushed the girl's head down further on to the stick, finally getting results. "Now for the rest you. Continue." Mar'eyna went over to Esther, who was covering her mouth so no one could see her stifling snickers. When the pardon girl staggered out of the bathroom, hand over her stomach while hunched over, Esther couldn't hold back. Her laugh was contagious as Mar'eyna started to chuckle at the fatties in front of them. It was sad, honestly. If maybe, six months ago, those girls got a salad instead of a burger, they'd probably be spared to Esther's room with Gail to keep them company. Lucky for the posse, they never needed to hunch over a toilet. They just ate healthy like any normal athlete should. Thursday just so happened to be their cheat day.   
"Why'd you spare that chubby girl at try outs?" Esther asked as the second girl wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "She's not exactly Barbie."  
"Because she's just compact. She weighs less than me actually. Plus she lives in my building. Her dad works with mine. If I had kicked her out of tryouts, I wouldn't hear the end of it."  
"What's her name again? Janine?"  
"Genevieve." Mar'eyna told her elder. "No need to remember it though. I want you to kick her off after the next competition so she's not at nationals. Wouldn't want her on the face of cheerleading.."  
"Mmmmhm." Esther snapped her fingers in a Z motion. "Don't want that, now do we?"  
Mar'eyna sighed with delight. "It's so fun being the mean girl instead of the new girl nerd who has to make her way up the food chain. My life's so easy. And I'm so beautiful and humble. It's like everything is handed to me of God's silver platter."  
"Humble?" Esther repeated. "Sure Mary, suuure."


	10. Chapter 9

To keep things from Saturday to Monday very brief, Daniel and Mar'eyna had a date at a diner with good home fries and the other boys from the Team came back battered and bruised with a new member.   
The new guy was Superboy. Or so Wally called him. We've established that Mar'eyna doesn't like rookies. Wanna really grind her gears? Be a rookie that wants to get closer to her father.   
What was his idea, huh? Just beat up the men trying to free him, waltz into the Cave and stress over Superman's attention and love? Mar'eyna didn't like him. Superboy clearly had an ulterior motive. Nobody was stupid; except for Wally sometimes; he has his slow moments just like everyone else. Mar'eyna's issue with the fake Kryptonian was that he was too much of an alpha. Kaldur'ahm was the leader of the Team in her eyes, not some buff three-day-old man/teen person thing.   
Mar'eyna was hiding behind Kal's cape like a shy five year old when the guys on the Team came back with the freshman. It was a social event, per se. The League liked to stick their nose into things, and for once, it was the appropriate time to. Despite explaining the whole clone fiasco, the League was telling Kal-El to treat Superboy like a son. He and Mar'eyna both didn't find that appealing. When the Super-clone was offered a spot on the Justice League opposed to the Team, Mar'eyna had to protest. How dare they? After that whole "new age regulation" bull, they wanna fill a space on their little squad with a literal man child who was technically about twelve hours old at the time instead of an experienced twelve year old who can fly, which by the way, Superboy can't. Jerks. Mar'eyna kept her distance from him, considering that she'd rather not harass and pick on a semi-Kryptonian who could punt her to back where she came from.   
M'gann found quite the liking for the blue eyed clone, as did Artemis, but on a lower key. Mar'eyna wasn't going to lie, Superboy was fairly good looking. But she didn't want to get involved with him; she'd admire from afar. Wally and Daniel were the only two guys starting to get irked from the new guy's presence. Hogging the ladies, being all macho, acting all lone-wolfy.   
Mar'eyna and Daniel were pretty grateful to be elsewhere in DC while Superboy was being "rescued." Going on that single three hour outing together lifted Daniel's grudge like the seven years building it up meant nothing. Mar'eyna saw The Music Man once, and she could confirm she wasn't a hussy since she didn't kiss Daniel on their first date. Sunday was a different story; yes, they wanted to go out again twenty four hours later. This time, the meeting point was Gotham City. Transportation isn't an issue when your girlfriend--I mean, good ol' pal--can teleport anyplace in the Milky Way. I'm serious though, they're not dating yet. YET.   
The two were just getting a bite before seeing a movie; only because they refused to pay five USDs for some small popcorn. Miss them with that inflation shit. The film had a certain scene that just set the mood. Nothing R rated, but you know. Mar'eyna wanted to be the first to lean in to assert her dominance, though Daniel moved in first and planted a swift peck on her cranberry juice stained lips. Daniel would've kissed her for longer if her father wasn't two rows behind chaperoning and watching him like a hawk watching a vulture circling around its already dead prey. Mar'eyna kissed him right after he pulled away, just to get the satisfaction of initiating an affectionate gesture. Mar'eyna's face air filters(that's what those black lines I'm always drawing on her are called.) flickered a florescent pink briefly as her face heated up slowly after really took in what just happened. Daniel was feeling like the man from sharing his lip virginity to a pretty attractive alien chick. His confidence was at an all-time high and he couldn't wait to go back to DC to tell his PS3 friends about his date. He glanced over to his date to see how she was handling the situation. I'll tell you what he wasn't expecting; for Mar'eyna cheeks to be blinking like they were delivering a message in morse code. It was for about seven seconds, but still, it wasn't something he was prepared for.   
"How was that?" Daniel whispered to her as he snuck his denim jacket clad arm around her shoulders.   
"Hot." Mar'eyna was patting her lips, as she thought she felt them bleeding. Poor girl forgot that Daniel was a walking boiler room. There had to be a blister, she just knew. His mouth wasn't as high in temperature as his hands though. Mar'eyna'd rather give him a twenty second kiss than hold his hand for ten.   
"Was I your first?"   
"Don't say it like that." Mar'eyna scolded.   
"Well was I?" Daniel pressed.   
"No." She lied.   
"Oh." His morale lowered drastically as his heart beat chilled out with the erratic shit. If she had said yes, his plan was to swoop in and get another smooch.   
After that, things were a little different at Mount Justice. There were plenty of more moments where the rest of the Team had to take a double take on a flirt aimed at either of the two that went over their heads. The thought on everyone's mind was, "Did I hear that right?"

It took Daniel roughly two years to gather the courage to ask Superman if he could date Mar'eyna. Yeah, he was cocky at the movies. But making things official was something that made every teen cower. His timing couldn't've been any worse. It was March 2015 when he asked Mar'eyna to be his girlfriend, a week after getting her father's permission. Daniel got on one knee and everything; suit and bouquet included. Mar'eyna agreed to be his girlfriend of course; over two years, she grew quite fond of him for more than just his looks. The only issue with the timing was that, after a year break after graduating high school; salutatorian, Mar'eyna was ready to start her college education as soon as possible. In April, in two weeks, she'd be shipping herself off to Texas to to check out a college campus she'd been offered a scholarship to. She could teleport herself back and forth whenever she pleased, but it would be a hassle having to juggle shadowing for two months and her relationship.   
Daniel planted a blazing kiss on Mar'eyna's forehead in April as a send off, leaving her to tour her possible school with a lips shaped branding in plain view. Before she opened her portal, Daniel handed her a flat box with candy printed wrapping. She opened it eagerly to only be let down when it was a pair of white, slightly ribbed gloves.   
"For when you come back." He explained.   
"It's gonna be summer when I come back for good." Mar'eyna said, still looking at her gift in confusion. She peered over her sunglasses to glance at her boyfriend, who was chuckling.   
"You'll see in June. You'll see."

Mar'eyna was being housed by a nice Mexican-American family in El Paso. The Reyes' were good folks to Mar'eyna; they had family game night every Thursday and went out to eat every Saturday. Mar'eyna took quite the liking for Milagro, the Reyes' daughter. She always wanted a younger sister, despite having one back on Lunaria waiting for her. Mar'eyna liked to braid the young girl's hair everyday to keep the style fresh while Milagro confided in her about what was going on with her brother and how he was acting "weird lately." When she thought about it, Mar'eyna did notice that Milagro's brother, Jaime, went out a lot at two AM and came back inside doubled over like he just puked.   
Mar'eyna had a excruciatingly awkward encounter with Jaime in the first week of her living in Texas. She had entered his room for her laptop charger while he was undressing. Mar'eyna was figuratively paralysed as she stared at his bare chest and shoulders. It was only awkward because neither of them said a word the whole time and Jaime didn't break eye contact with her as he continued to strip. And that, my readers, was the first time Mar'eyna saw a penis in person. Besides his schlong, Mar'eyna was interested in Jaime's being. Not so much in the romantic sense, but to be precise, she thought he was an overall cool guy. His friends were nice, she guessed. Brenda was really loud and just...eh.   
There was a time where they hugged in May. Jaime had just came back from New York from his time for self-discovery. Mar'eyna felt his scarab for the first time. She was innocently slipping her hand under his shirt to feel it skin to skin. Jaime had gotten the wrong message and unskilfully did the same to her. Mar'eyna had never been touched like that, and out of perplexity, she pushed him hard into the sofa, which sent another wrong message. Jaime had red cheeks and a finger between his neck and shirt collar to cool him down.   
"I don't think I'm ready for this." He said as he adjusted his jeans a little.   
"For?"  
"You know. Things." Jaime said more quietly.   
Mar'eyna didn't speak for a good thirty seconds. Staring blankly, she left the living room, went to the kitchen, warmed up her cup of tea in the microwave, and came back to the living room.   
"What the fuck is the matter with you?"

After getting out of that, Jaime thoroughly explained his scarab, how he got it, and what it does. He suited up for Mar'eyna to show her what he looked like clad in Khaji's armour. Mar'eyna was only a pinch frightened. He told her to come outside with him, and he flew her about five miles away from the house. Jaime was ecstatic to show her what his armour could do since she was the first girl to not run away screaming after seeing him. Mar'eyna was glad to see him have fun blowing up boulders and writing his and her initials with laser in the earth. JR and MK were the area's new landmark.   
The mohawk bearing Teen was worn out after about thirty minutes of blasting. He placed himself on the untouched rock Mar'eyna spectated on.   
"Feels good to get that off my chest and outta my system." Jaime sighed. He dearmoured his head then looked at Mar'eyna.   
"You're a weapon." Mar'eyna said. "Just saying, you'd be really useful in extraterrestrial threat situations."  
"The thing is, I can't control my scarab just yet. But once I can, I'm gonna join the Justice League and use my powers for good." Jaime peered at his own blue and black armoured hands.   
"Hey, you should make yourself known before joining the League. Save a few people, stop a few bad guys and the League will beg for someone like you on their side."  
"Someone like me, huh? I must be pretty special then." Jaime chuckled as he stretched his arms over his head.   
"Definitely. Even as Jaime." Mar'eyna smiled at him while he was admiring the starry sky. Jaime saw her in the corner of his eye and smiled too. "You'll be a great superhero one day." She slid off the rock then leaned against it. Jaime mimicked her actions.   
"You honestly think so Mary?"  
"I know so."  
Jaime put his arm around her waist as they began to walk the way they came. Mar'eyna leaned up against him as they headed home.


	11. Chapter 10

Nothing was out of the ordinary when Mar'eyna returned. Zatanna finally made her debut on the Team. Mar'eyna already knew that she wasn't including anyone else in her ETBFFWTEOOH(extraterrestrial best friends forever with the exception of one human) squad. New relationships had formed which were what threw off Mar'eyna the most. What made her and Daniel so iconic were them being the only couple on the Team. But now everyone was paired up. Artemis went for that Atlantean chocolate for a month, Mar'eyna heard. But Artemis said Kaldur'ahm cut it off after finding out Wally liked her too, and didn't want to compete with his friend. Now the blonde was Kid Flash's spitfire. M'gann and Superboy got together after a failed undercover operation. Mar'eyna didn't really remember the story; something about M'gann freezing and Superboy kissing her afterwards.   
Besides other people's relationships, Mar'eyna was focused on her own. We can safely say that Daniel missed her terribly, as he cried when he saw her emerge from her white portal in his kitchen. Without even considering his hot hands, Daniel swooped her up and spun her around in an embrace. Mar'eyna now had another scorched shirt to add to her collection. She hissed as she patted her shirt frantically to put out the fire after he set her down.   
"It's alright. I forgot how flammable cotton was." Mar'eyna remarked.   
Daniel used his pyrokinesis to part the flames from his girlfriend's attire.   
"Sorry about that." He wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm just super hype you're back." Daniel kissed her on the lips quickly so he wouldn't burn her.   
"I'm hype to be back. Texas was too hot, and you know how I'm vulnerable to heat." Mar'eyna took off her shoes and walked past the kitchen into the breakfast room. "Where are your parents?"  
"Renewing their vows and going on a redo honeymoon. Without their beloved baby boy of course." Daniel wrapped his warmer arms around Mar'eyna from behind, making sure his hands didn't even graze her. "How was the bless-ed south?"   
"Quite the experience. Surprisingly, I wasn't chased around by the Ku Klutz Klan."  
"The only white guy pursuing you is gonna be me." Daniel tried to flirt. Mar'eyna had to scoff from that one. "Come on, that was good."  
"Six out of tan for it." Mar'eyna said.   
"Tan?" Daniel questioned.   
"Tan." Mar'eyna confirmed.   
"Yeah, you were down there too long." Daniel tightened the hug. "Let me Northern you up." Honestly, that didn't even make sense to me; but Daniel's cheesy, so I'll let it slide. He started to plant pecks on her cheek down to her gills, making her shudder from the foreign feeling.

Familiar with Batman's contingency plans? Recall the time he let the League's files get leaked and every member was exposed to their weaknesses; physical and psychological? One mistake wasn't enough for the Dark Night.   
"Dammit Bruce!" Superman tried to contain his voice through a clenched jaw. "Again? Do you remember what happened more than a decade ago?" He grabbed on to Batman's collar and shook him. Superman took a deep breath before releasing him.   
"Like I said almost a decade ago; the plans are meant to neutralise, not kill." Batman explained calmly. "You don't know what those teens are capable of. Plans like these are necessary for every member of the League, even associated ones."  
"Those are my daughter's weaknesses that you let Mirror Master retrieve! Think about all those young people who are going to be traumatised if he puts the plans into action."   
"That's why I called you to the BatCave." Batman stepped over to his large monitor and started tapping buttons on the keyboard. "You're going to help me track him down before he can set those plans not to just neutralise the Team."   
"Why me? Why only me?" Superman narrowed his eyes.   
"I don't want the rest of the League to find out this happened again."

Mar'eyna was reintroduced to her gift from Daniel; the white gloves in case a nigga forgot. She put them on and still didn't see the appeal. The inner fabric felt nice though.   
"Are you gonna tell me the purpose these jawns serve?" She called over to Daniel just approaching the living room.   
Daniel was previously upstairs getting his girlfriend a new shirt to wear since he ruined the one she was wearing. He handed it to her on the sofa. He hopped over the love seat and placed himself next to her. He took Mar'eyna's hand in his.   
"Do you feel anything?" Daniel asked.   
"No." Mar'eyna answered.   
"That's the purpose."   
After a few seconds, it clicked in Mar'eyna's brain. She exclaimed with a gasp as she realised she wasn't suffering any first degree burns on her palm. Finally! She could hold hands with him in public without crying from the pain.   
"Literally, this is the most thoughtful gift you've given me." She hugged him; the gloves obviously didn't help with the hotness she felt against her chest from his upper body. His chest and stomach were more on the radiating side than the scorching side.   
"You didn't like the scrapbook I made for you?"   
"This is the most thoughtful gift you've given me." Mar'eyna repeated with more emphasis.

Mar'eyna was summoned by the Justice League to the Hall. Finally, her big break. She had a feeling she was about to be bribed and begged to rejoin the adults.   
She was gravely disappointed to see only Batman and her father sitting at the round table. Superman motioned for her to take a seat. Mar'eyna did so cautiously.   
"Is this an intervention?" Mar'eyna joked.   
"This is serious Mary. I need you to listen." Superman said. Mar'eyna straightened herself out in her old round table seat, the one with the pink boost cushion still untouched. Painted pink nails tapped on the table rhythmically as she awaited the news.   
"You and the Team have been compromised." Batman went on as Superman didn't know how to address the problem. "I'd prepare for an attack if I were you."  
Sitting there with her jaw on the table, Mar'eyna didn't move for a while. Her eyes were glued to the playboy millionaire. Arched eyebrows were furrowed and she moved her hands to her armrests to stand up. Mar'eyna calmly walked over to Batman and looked up at him with her expression still the same. She socked him in the arm since she couldn't reach his face to slap in. She then proceeded to cuss the grown man out, blaming him with no evidence because she just knew that that was all his doing.   
Mar'eyna headed over to her seated father and smacked him across the face, doing herself more damage than he.   
"And you just let him do this? A second time? Why are you just sitting down? Go track down my fucking files!" Mar'eyna got a grip on Superman's collar. "This is what you call a welcome back party, Kal fucking El? I just wanted to relax and have my first make out session with Daniel and now I have to fear for my life?!"  
"Do what with Daniel?" Superman stressed as he narrowed his eyes.   
"That's the least of your worries Daddy. You fix this right now. I'm not doing jack bull." Mar'eyna trotted to the motion sensitive door to the room. She looked over her shoulder to throw in two more cents. "If I get hurt at all this week, related to this or not, I'm whooping your ass." Mar'eyna pointed at Batman to add on to her threat. "Try me."

Mar'eyna didn't notify the Team about the dilemma; she figured it would be best not to worry them and just go up against their fears for them. Doing so was probably the most selfless thing she had done in her fourteen years of life.   
She suited up in the CIA armoury, dressed in a blank long sleeve and black joggers. Her sneakers were neon orange since she teleported straight from her jogging trail to the armoury. Opening her eyeshadow kit, she made two black strokes under her eyes and then one down her nose. Mar'eyna tied her white hair into loose braid and tied a red bandana around her forehead; courtesy of The Posse she joined down in Texas. Her portal was wide as she just put anything on the walls inside of it, one of every weapon. She couldn't move any boxes of ammunition, so she settled for those bullets on a sash.   
She was ready for anything.  
Mar'eyna jerked up from her bed instinctively as the first sign of dawn appeared through her cream curtains. She rubbed her eyes sloppily with the back of her hands. Superman was entering her room just as she got up and put her house slippers on.   
"Evening Mary." He greeted.   
Mar'eyna was now in her vanity checking her face frantically. Where were her eyeshadow warrior tats? She could've sworn she had a red headband.   
"How long was I out?" Mar'eyna asked, not responded to her father's wake up call.   
"You crashed on the couch after coming home from your boyfriend's place. So from around two-ish." He set Mar'eyna's daily glass of warm wake-up milk. Mar'eyna took it without thanks and gulped it down. Wiping her mouth with the shirt Daniel gave her to wear, she asked him what was going on with the leaked information on the Team.   
"What leaked files?" Superman asked. He was wearing his Clark Kent glasses and raised them up his nose.   
"The ones Batman made to neutralise any person with supernatural abilities because he's jealous he don't got any."   
"That was almost thirteen years ago, Mar'eyna." Superman sat on her bed as she sat in the love seat for her vanity. "You were just learning how to teleport around that time."  
"I didn't need the paternal nostalgia."  
"Then what are you talking about?"  
"The files!" Mar'eyna raised her voice as she was getting frustrated. "Mirror Man got to mine and the Team's dammit. You called me to the Hall of Justice to tell me."  
Superman got up to pat her on the hair.   
"Sounds like you had a very lucid dream."  
"More like a shitting nightmare."   
"Language." He scolded.   
"Suck my Lunarian dick, Clark." She mumbled.   
"You know what?" Superman went over to her dresser and confiscated her green iPhone 5C.

Mar'eyna, now dressed as Astruma, patrolled around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was her favourite city at night. Everything was lit up in different colours. She wanted to relocate there to live her adult life and start her family. She had to say, after a few years of night patrol there, Mar'eyna got sick of the cheesesteaks she ate every time she decided to go on break. Philly dwellers were more nosy than fans in Metropolis and Central City combined. Mar'eyna couldn't even land to wake up her numb feet without people rushing over to her for close ups. They all needed lives. Like, it was summer break, yeah. But at the same time, it was like, aren't you late for your shift? Crime in Philly was little in terms of global and/or national threats. Mar'eyna spun about face in her heels when she saw muggers mugging; she didn't fuck with pocket knives--metal was a weakness--or alleys.   
It was too late at night for her to really go anywhere. The city sleeps, but the people don't. Dunkin Donuts were 24/7 in Metropolis, but in Philadelphia, they were 12/5, closed on damn weekends like losers.   
There was maybe one clothes shop open near her location. It was a store more for the adult consumer than a fourteen year old, but there was no sign in the window that said 21+  
Astruma walked in in full costume and sunglasses over her mask like it hid her from the thirty odd people in the store. She filtered out whispering and camera flashes while she browsed through the romance novels in the back of the store, which was more of the age appropriate section of the store. Mar'eyna had to walk through aisles of toys and underwear that didn't cover anything to get to the books. One of those darn Philly hipsters who lurk in the Barnes and Nobles' Starbucks cafe and type on their computers in public to let everyone know that they have work to do came up next to her, bumping his hip with hers.  
"Crummy faggot. All this space and you ain't gotta graze me."   
"Is that how you talk to strangers?"   
Mar'eyna sighed as she recognised the voice. From high school, glory hogging valedictorian, full scholarship to Yale having prickly ass Jedediah Rempel with his stupid customised felt hat. He was only Amish from the neck up; clothes wise, not behaviour wise. He always had on blue jeans and Vans with his damn outer shirt wrapped around his waist--the style of a douche in Mar'eyna's book.   
"Shouldn't you be scrounging up money for your textbooks?" Mar'eyna picked any book to read so she wouldn't have to make eye contact.   
"How'd you know I need cash for my books?" Jedediah squinted at the girl. Mar'eyna had forgotten she was Astruma at the moment and not the Mar'eyna he knew and had to one up.   
"You look like a college student."  
"Thanks."  
"It means you look haggard my nigga. That wasn't a compliment." Her book suddenly became a lot more interesting with she skimmed all the way to chapter eight. Very steamy.   
"Right.." Jedediah trailed off. "Hey so? Quick question: can I get on autograph?"  
"I'll be damned if you think I provide the paper and pen."  
Jedediah ripped a page out of a sketchbook on sale, maybe making a sound larger than an airplane taking off. Mar'eyna tilted her sunglasses downwards to see the idiot without a dark tint. Still blue eyed. Still a scene maker. A pen was handed to her along with the technically stolen paper. She didn't bother to give him a second glance as she signed her hero alias with the cross of the T hovering over its base line. Getting the paper back, Jedediah went in his pocket and pulled out a folded yellow notebook sheet.   
"I stopped reading fan letters in '13."   
"Not a fan letter. Just give this to the Leaguer who runs the League. It's my application."  
"For coffee maker?"  
"Position for a superhero." The blue eyed boy explained. "Don't wanna showboat or anything, but uh," he chuckled. "I'm a phenomena."  
"Phenomenon." Mar'eyna corrected.   
"Sure. Anyway, I think I'd be a great addition to your little team. Read the paper."  
Mar'eyna put her book out of its place on the large monochrome modern shelf to read the graduate's little bio. She had get back in the air before she's considered AWOL, so like seven--eight-ish minutes.   
"You can read the future? Gotta say, that's a little impressive."   
"Predict, not read."  
Mar'eyna held back her comment about how there was no difference.   
"It's how I knew you'd be right in this store to give you my paper."  
"Predict if you get into the League then."  
Jedediah put a finger in the air to pause the conversation so he could focus. "I do."  
"How far in time can you see?" Mar'eyna asked folding the paper back up; she'd seen enough. The League had a mind reader, but not a future teller. Plus he was over eighteen now so he wouldn't be stuck on the Team. Lucky farmer in the city bastard.   
"A week." Jedediah adjusted his felt hat.   
"You're suddenly less impressive." Mar'eyna took her book back and pitter pattered to the front of the store where the lonely, single adults found some plastic company. It wouldn't be bad for her rep to maybe look through the racks of underwear, but it wouldn't be good either if someone snapped a pic of it. Remembering she did need more sets, Mar'eyna went on the side of the rack that left her back facing the wall instead of the costumers. She knew all her measurements pretty well since they'd been the same for four years; 36C for the boob holders and she could probably guess her bottoms size. She opened her portal and threw whatever she liked into it, not including her book which she thought would be a good idea to pay for so she wouldn't look suspicious.   
Fortunately for her, the rack didn't look too patchy and empty after she was finished. She slid the lady at the register a crisp ten dollar bill for the $9.99 book and told her to buy something pretty with the change.


	12. Chapter 11

Mar'eyna was just bringing Monday donuts like she always did when saw The Super Seven with the two Lanterns in the cave. At least it wasn't the whole League again. She set the two half dozen boxes on the coffee table near the large TV where everyone was gathered. Her brain just refused to acknowledge the extra person on the long leather sofa. She left the Cave after dropping off the morning snacks.   
"That was kinda rude." The extra figure said once the light of the Zeta tube faded. "She didn't even greet a sister."  
"You shouldn't worry too much about her; it'll give you grey hairs." Green Lantern, John Stewart, said. "This is my niece, everyone: Amaya Sommers, my sister's kid. She'll be joining the Team."  
"Auditions are closed for the summer, Sommers." Wally called from the kitchen island as he smeared mayonnaise onto a slice of bread. "Jed is our last rookie until September. Even if he's not on the Team per se."  
Jedediah shrugged, not wanting to be the topic at hand.   
"Ignore Kid Flash, anyone is free to join at any time of the year." Kaldur'ahm told Amaya. He was leaning over the sofa to face her.   
"What exactly are your powers?" Artemis quoted her iconic line. Just as Amaya was going to answer, Mar'eyna walked right back through the Zeta Tube. She was the only one out of uniform besides Amaya. Mar'eyna placed another half dozen donuts on the coffee table that she stole from someone leaving the store; she didn't have time to wait in line for more.   
"I think there might be a couple jelly ones in here, so beware Kosher and Halal nigs." Mar'eyna stood next to her father, who immediately pulled her aside for a daily--hourly--scolding.   
"She asked what your powers are." Wally chimed back in after squatting to the bottom level of the fridge.   
"I can fly." Amaya stated like it was a question or she wasn't sure. "The sun fuels me."  
"So your a plant?" Artemis snickered. "Wow GL, can your niece photosynthesise or what?" She had to hold back her genuine laughter while her boyfriend let loose.   
John Stewart sighed. "Teenagers." He said to himself. "She can produce all forms of energy from her hands and eyes; including any forms of rays."  
Artemis gave a sarcastic thumbs up.   
"As our new member, allow me to show you around." Kaldur'ahm said while he straightened his back. Amaya was skeptic, but followed the Atlantean anyway to escape Spitfire. She didn't want to call anyone out for the rude welcoming, so she kept her mouth shut for the majority of the day.   
Mar'eyna was released from her Kryptonian captor who walked behind her to join the group. Kal-El actually didn't bitch as much as she supposed he would. It a a mere, "You didn't come home last night, you can't say the N-word around here anymore because I said so."  
Mar'eyna LURKS at night, of course she wasn't going to be home, on a Sunday no less. She was home all morning though, that was her excuse. Yes, she was out from dusk to sunrise using her portal to take anything she liked around the world that didn't have those white tracers that the clerk had to cut off. Mar'eyna felt a rush when she stole, but it was a one time thing for sure. Her father might've raised a shitty Lunarian, but he didn't raise a thief. Let's just completely ignore her snatching some business boy's donuts, it's her cheat day.   
"Ugh, Mary, you totally missed it." Artemis dragged her friend away from the crowd of conversing adults. Mar'eyna was always fine with being pulled away to hear some juicy gossip. "Know I know how you felt when I got here." She whispered. "Amira is a hot mess."  
"Who the fuck is America?" Mar'eyna whispered back.   
"I said Amira. I don't know if that's her name or not, but I wasn't listening. She's like older than Kaldur'ahm but she acts like a shy toddler going to her first day of pre-K."  
"Ew. This will be fun." Mar'eyna rubbed her hands like she was putting lotion on.   
"How is that ew?" Artemis questioned, no longer really whispering, just keeping her voice at a minimum.   
"Stop questioning me. What are you, a cop?" Their huddle then separated. Mar'eyna pulled Artemis's quiver to bring her back for a quick second. "Where's America at again?"  
"With Kaldur."   
"Great. Now she's going after my ex." Mar'eyna put one hand over her hip as she looked over her shoulder.   
"You're delusional. Kaldur is my ex." Artemis crossed her arms and shook her head.   
"But he's my ex-crush. So calm yourself, Mrs. Speedy Gonzales." And the huddle broke off again as Mar'eyna went to search for America like Columbus searched for India.   
Mar'eyna found Amaya with Kaldur'ahm in the sparring room. She wasn't too afraid of competition in the looks department. The guy she liked loved smaller noses and long hair anyway; Amaya's nose was wider and her hair was short, even as it was currently straightened. Mar'eyna smirked before fixing her gloss to walk over to the two. Her ponytail swung dramatically left to right like she was trying to make it move. She put it over her shoulder as she tapped Kaldur'ahm's turned back. The Atlantean turned around and gave a small smile seeing who it was.   
"Amaya, I'd like you to meet Astruma. She was one of the first people on this team."   
Amaya turned away from the simulator she wanted to tamper with to face the new person in the room. She waved without introduction. Amaya wanted to say to the girl in front of her that she didn't have to roll her eyes at her. Mar'eyna rolled her eyes again before looking back at Kaldur'ahm to engage in small talk.   
"" Mar'eyna asked in her and Kaldur'ahm's shared tongue, Atlantean. She didn't even bother to whisper.   
""   
""   
Unfortunately, negroes is the same thing in Atlantean and English. And the emphasis she put on it drew Amaya to face her again with more purpose to speak up. The oldest girl leaned on the little podium where all the buttons and level settings were and burned the back of Mar'eyna's head; figuratively. Mar'eyna turned around with a dirty look, and told Amaya to stop staring before she gets popped in the mouth.   
"Were you talking about me?" Amaya asked Kaldur'ahm more than Mar'eyna.   
"If we were what was you gonna do about it?" Mar'eyna started to get louder as she stepped two footsteps up to America.   
"I'd tell you," Amaya motioned a circle around Mar'eyna. "To stop."  
"And I'm not gonna stop, and then what?" Mar'eyna got more into Amaya's personal space as she folded her hands below her stomach; her about-to-start-a-fight stance. With all the adrenaline going through her, Amaya's next great idea was to push the racist alien backwards. She didn't even have time to really consider the consequences of doing so. She also didn't have time to really react to the fist about to rock her. Mar'eyna retaliated so quickly, even Kid Flash--if he was around--could stop her before she started.   
Amaya was only out for like five seconds, and during that time, Kaldur'ahm was able to pin Mar'eyna against the wall to stop her from attacking his rookie again. John Stewart was all the more displeased with Mar'eyna than he was with his niece, who Kaldur'ahm confirmed put her hands on Mar'eyna first. Superman filled in for Kaldur'ahm in containing Mar'eyna, who was kicking and freezing herself repeatedly to become slippery to escape the grasps. Once she calmed down, her father let her go.   
Amaya was helped off the floor by her uncle and Kaldur. Her cheek stung badly and her molar felt more loose than it was supposed to be. Maybe it was a bad idea pushing a well-trained super heroine and not expecting a response. She wasn't going to play the blame game though. She told her uncle the whole situation with no filter or bias.  
Mar'eyna did in fact apologise first for the incident. About an hour after Amaya's knock out, Mar'eyna came up to her while she was alone in the screening room away from the large TV. She tossed a box of Sour Patch into Amaya's lap. The African American pursed her lips as she was tempted by the candy like a child being bribed ice cream from a stranger. She still had an ice pack on her cheek for her pulsating toothache.   
Mar'eyna's motive was wanting more black friends. Speaking of, she once said if she could choose any race to be if she were human, she'd choose to be black. Mar'eyna always admired the history, from Ethiopia to Martin Luther King Jr., and the occasional Obama reign. Amaya was probably going to be the only black chick on the Team for a long, long time. To her, having black friends would automatically make her black by association. Mar'eyna could pass for a light skin she supposed. Maybe a light skinned mixed with white or confused Indian.   
"I forgot how vicious my punches were. Haven't used hand to hand combat in a minute." Mar'eyna spoke as she unfolded the seat next to Amaya, who was more focused on the screen than her. "Whatchu watching?"  
"A movie." Amaya retorted.   
"Which one?" Mar'eyna tried to keep the conversation flowing.   
"The Help."   
"Great film, I've seen it like a million times."  
"Then why are you in here watching it a millionth and one times?" Was what Amaya wanted to blurt out and say. "Same." She said aloud.   
The girls were silent for about fifteen minutes into the movie. Ceasing the awkwardness, Daniel walked into the screen room with microwaved popcorn still in the bag. He sat in the cushiony, velvet red seat next to his girlfriend, not filling the space between the girls. Whispering random sweet nothings into her ear, Daniel later asked what movie was playing and Mar'eyna accidentally responded "The Color Purple", forgetting the name. When Daniel opened the bag of popcorn, the small theatre was washed over with a stench of burnt cotton. Mar'eyna had to evacuate as the smell Daniel called an aroma made her gag. Amaya was offered some, and she graciously accepted for the sake of her admiration for charred microwaveable snacks. The Big Bang babies were monsters; they couldn't possibly be human.


	13. Chapter 12

It's safe to say that Mar'eyna and Daniel were a happy couple who had their old married couple moments. Mar'eyna was only fourteen and Daniel fifteen around this time still, so there wasn't much they could do in public besides hold hands and hug and even in private, they were never really alone; whenever either of them were at the other's house, the door would have to be wide opened, not cracked, no compromising. Both of them had done nothing more than kiss for three seconds; Daniel's skin temperature was too high for the any of them to be in physical contact for more than three seconds anyway. None of them had gotten the talk, but it wasn't necessary for Daniel since he had the internet and closet bound magazines. Mar'eyna and he never tongue kissed due to her fear of getting pregnant from his saliva. She only thing she knew about coitus was the word and definition, her school never provided her with a health class with instructions or a simple break down. Sex was the last thing on the young couple's mind. Mar'eyna was in that phase of her life where she just wanted to shop(and not pay) and go to the salon every other weekend. She tried her first hair extension in July and to keep it brief, she was unsatisfied; the colour wasn't white enough and was more on the platinum blonde spectrum. Daniel on the other hand was focused on keeping the world just and playing on his PS3 while FaceTiming his girlfriend as she did her nails and only nodded to his anecdotes about his day. Mar'eyna doesn't like to speak when she's really occupied with a task, no matter the size or importance.   
And then there was the oldest couple on the Team, and the youngest on the League: Jedediah and Amaya. Their tale was Jed predicting that they'd eventually get together regardless of the path he took, so he took the quickest one and bam, she fell for the Amish boy, not wanting to go against fate. They didn't really see the appeal in each other until a few weeks into their relationship. Amaya thought she liked dark and sweet boys like Kaldur'ahm, she'd never expect that she'd go for a Lancaster-raised blue eyed Aryan. What would her parents think? Jedediah wasn't concentrating on the race of his soul mate, but more of the way she was raised. He would've preferred a less woke Ebony chick who didn't wear daishikis on their dates or faint in church. Jedediah had never been more puzzled in his life until he stepped foot into her church in Dakota, where the people stomp and dance and shake the whole building. He felt like he had to grasp onto the pew's arm rest as the floor creaked and shook. After the sermon, or service, I honestly don't know what it's called and I'm not gonna Google it, Jedediah was questioned thoroughly by older women in grey wigs and their Sunday dresses, asking him if he was lost or how it felt to "really praise God." Not to show disrespect, Jedediah gave them the answer they wanted to hear, and not his full opinion on how God doesn't want people seizuring for him on the floor acting like fools. Amaya had no issues with Jedediah and his lifestyle, besides his household's no sex until marriage rule. She was almost a legal adult in some states and countries and she wanted to feel good. Amaya had a shy exterior and a somewhat reserved interior, and shuddered whenever someone uttered the syllable se--. Jedediah had his needs too. Amaya told him that she wasn't a virgin, and it really made his heart ache knowing that when he was ready for her, she wouldn't be sharing her special first time with him. That whole conversation was where they realised they were really meant to be. If they weren't destined to be with each other, then why would Jedediah leave the room to not show his weak side to her as he cried from the news? When Amaya found him after she went after him, he told her that he just wanted for them both to share the experience with one another. Jedediah predicted that if he responded to her saying "It will still be special if it's with you." with "Then let me get in your guts.", their potential wedding would happen a week quicker. He didn't have the guts to say something so filthy and disgusting. His staying quiet set their matrimonial future a whole two weeks back.   
Amaya forced herself into acquaintance with Mar'eyna since she was the only girl on the Team to really speak to her. Miss Martian had her own problems with Superboy to get to know her and Artemis just didn't find being friends with a pushover to be rewarding. Mar'eyna at least gave her recognition for her computer skills. Robin still felt he was superior in that field as Amaya hacked into the Pentagon in ten seconds; his record was eight.

Daniel and Mar'eyna were in his part of DC after a trip to the Hall of Justice where Daniel got to meet Firestorm, who was offering him a position as protege. Like hell he'd refuse, even though deep down, he felt like he was skilled enough to be a mentor himself. While Mar'eyna wanted to hear the drama going down on the television in his room, Daniel kept talking about meeting Jason Murch as if she wasn't there with him during. His feelings were only slightly hurt as he caught her rolling her eyes after every fifth sentence of narration. Daniel jumped on his bed to get Mar'eyna's attention away from the screen. He did a somersault that could've resulted in him kicking her in the face if she hadn't gotten off the bed. Daniel fixed his flipped about hair and hopped off the bed to face Mar'eyna.   
"Care to pay attention to me for two minutes? Or is your show too important right now?" Daniel put his hands on his hips as Mar'eyna answered with, "I paid attention to you all day. I need a break."  
"I don't know about that. We haven't kissed or hugged or flirted for almost twenty-four hours."  
Mar'eyna put her heatproof glove clad hands on Daniel's cheeks to cup his sharp jawline. He leaned in first as he wrongly assumed what the next move was. He interrupted the beginning of Mar'eyna's sentence when his lips pressed up against hers. Mar'eyna thought that he was signalling her to shut up. She looked down while she was kissed as she started to think that maybe she did possibly talk too much.   
The smooch was longer than its usual three second period. Daniel put his hands on Mar'eyna's shoulders to show his affection that she hadn't given him all day. Her shirt was thin, and she couldn't bare the pain similar to getting her hand stuck in a speedily warming up waffle maker. Daniel turned his head a little and Mar'eyna couldn't take anymore and had to pull away; she was beginning to feel lightheaded from the heat surrounding her.   
Seven seconds.   
That's all it took for Daniel to crave more. Mar'eyna's air filters flickered pink like they did in the movies that one time two years ago, so he knew she only pulled away for homeostatic reasons and not because she didn't enjoy herself. He went back in after the red from her ears slowly faded. Mar'eyna put her hands on his shoulders this time around while he cupped her face with his oven-mitts that didn't hold back the flames waiting to be released from his hands in the slightest.   
Three seconds.   
Daniel wanted to just close the door at that point. When he looked at her when they pulled apart, Daniel could see Mar'eyna was getting heated, in the good way. Maybe if they sat on the bed, it would spice up the interval-filled make out. The older hero sat down on his navy sheets and patted the spot next to him. Mar'eyna didn't sit down, but instead helped herself to a spot in his lap, initiating another smooch. Daniel got a sensual ripple from his stomach to his feet and fingers as Mar'eyna planted her small hands on his chest for support. Mar'eyna pulled away to heal herself and then went back in. She moved up on Daniel's lap, grinding him twice incidentally and unknowingly. Daniel exclaimed in a badly contained sound of delight. Mar'eyna fell back off the bed from fear as Daniel's hair ignited and his ears let out smoke. His face was red like he had a fever. He left his bedroom after apologising and swearing that he didn't know *that* could happen. His first stop was the restroom.   
Daniel threw cold water on his face and filled the sink to dip his hands in. The water boiled in seconds and the flame on his head went down, not needing to be put out with water. Breathing through his mouth with a puff, he drained the sink. His ears still emitted a thin smoke that he could bear with. He began to think about the water again as it represented his girlfriend, even if she was more of an ice user. Oh the price he'd pay and lengths he go to to shut off his fire for just five minutes. Not just for his relationship, but also for his mother's oven mitts she had to replace every other day. His family wasn't fully adjusted to the raised temperature Daniel acquired yet. But over the years, they could've sworn he felt a little warmer than the previous year. He wasn't too worried about his family though; they tailored a custom fireproof wardrobe to adapt to their son's gift years ago.   
The teen looked at himself in the mirror and really took in his own facial features. He was getting a nice tan from the summer sun and his new complexion brought out his pale green eyes as they contrasted with his light brown hair. He didn't acquire his mother's freckles like his brother did, but at least he got his father's strong nose.   
Feeling like he cooled down enough, Daniel headed back to his room where Mar'eyna was back on his bed watching the TV. Her new position had her hoisting up her head with hands and had her stomach on the bed. Her legs were crossed at the ankles.   
"I'm sorry about all that."   
"Don't be. It's natural I'm guessing." Mar'eyna looked her boyfriend in the threshold briefly to see if his head was still on fire. All clear.  
"Wanna continue?"   
"My dad called me while you were in the bathroom. I gotta go soon."  
"We can finish up soon."  
"I'd rather take my time tomorrow than rush now." Mar'eyna let herself roll off the bed and land on a knee. She put her cheap foam flip flops on along with the thin sheer blue over throw she wore to cover her arms. Her fake glasses, used when she was out as Mary K. Kent, were adjusted on her face by Daniel. Like lensless 3D glasses hid her distinctive hair and eye colour. You'd have to be pretty stupid if you could piece Astruma and Mary Kent together.   
"Want me to walk you home?" Daniel offered, simply just wanting to drag out their time with each other for just a little longer. He made Mar'eyna crack a smile and titter.   
"I live in a whole different state, Danny. I gotta teleport."   
"Or...I get you a plane ticket for a flight in a week to Metropolis and you stay with me until then." Daniel pushed on. Mar'eyna kissed her palm and then placed it on his lips. She waved with a wiggle of her gloved fingers and went downstairs to say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Carter before opening her teleportation portal.


	14. Chapter 13

If you indulged in Young Justice S2, you should recall some of the new generation heroes such as Wondergirl, Tim Drake's Robin, Static, etc. 2016 was a time of severe change for the Team: welcoming a wave of new members was all warm and fussy per se, but the first generation of the Team did feel sometimes that the Cave was getting a touch too crowded. Most of the time, the Team enjoyed the younger teens' company. To let his adopted brother have some Robin spotlight, Dick went by a new alias called Nightwing. Mar'eyna thought his new costume was a mental illness itself.   
To separate the new comers and set some boundaries in the Cave, all the members were broken up into teams: alpha, beta, omega, and delta. Mar'eyna insisted on being on Beta captain and recruited Danny Blaze, Blue Beetle, Wondergirl and Static, who was the only Runaway who decided to accept his invitation to join the team.   
November 2016 was when Mar'eyna came out to Daniel as an alien. He just squinted his eyes at her and whispered, "I've never doubted that in the first place," as they hid behind wooden boxes of cargo in costume and ready to fire. The task at hand was neutralising the Black Beetle. Safely said, they needed back up. Mar'eyna only spilled her mind because she felt her life was threatened.   
"And Mr. Kent told me three years ago; when we first went out. Told me it was better for him to tell me what I was getting into." Daniel peeked over the boxes. Black Beetle had his back turned to them and was going through the other cargo furiously, as he was in the greatest rush to find what he was looking for; the crystal Mar'eyna hadn't paid much attention to to here its bio. A box flew over their heads and smashed. "Mar'eyna's a much prettier name than Mary." He positioned himself to pounce over the box they retreated to any second.   
"Longer, not prettier." Mar'eyna sassed under her breath. "Signal Static."   
Daniel flickered a small flame three times in Static's direction, and the Runaway nodded as he got the message. Static decided to take the offense and went to attack Black Beetle first. With electric charged hands, he charged just to be picked up and tossed into a nearby stack of boxes.   
"Let's call Omega." Daniel whispered as he saw his teammate finally hit the floor.   
"Fuck them, they stole Robin after I said I wanted him on Beta." Mar'eyna pulled her gloves farther up her arm. Distracted, Daniel was able to take her communicator and whisper for back up. Trying to grab her belongs back, the both of them moving about made the crate skid on the floor with audible noise, bringing Black Beetle's attention to them. Each scattered as the villain's rays destroyed their hiding box from where he was standing. Mar'eyna's sleeve was cut through, and so was a bit of her shoulder, only drawing a small line of blood, nothing major. I'm sorry, I don't really like writing action scenes, so excuse this lazy time forward.

A few hours after a failed neutralisation, the Team convened at the Cave for a new plan. Mar'eyna told Blue Beetle to pay attention to the plan for her while she snuck off with Daniel for the traditional post-mission kiss. PDA was still something they never attempted to do, especially at the Cave. Going into the same private unused sleeping quarters they always did, Daniel slid the door closed and locked it. The kiss was quick, so there was no need for the amped up security. In addition, everyone but one person knew they were dating, so if someone were to open the door and interrupt something, that someone wouldn't be shocked or anything like if they were to see Wondergirl and Robin making out; their relationship was still under wraps.   
Daniel invested in his own pair of gloves like Mar'eyna's, except in black, and his gloves kept in the heat while Mar'eyna's kept it away. Speaking of, Daniel also got himself an entire new costume. He decided to wear a brown detective jacket and dress shoes so they'd correlate with his gloves. His white t-shirt still bore a flame logo in the centre. Mar'eyna liked to tug on the tie belt on his jacket while they flirted after their shared pecks.   
How'd Blue react to finding out Mar'eyna was Astruma?: He wasn't all too surprised. They were identical. But how'd he react to finding out she was in a relationship?: still not too surprised in the sense that obviously she had the looks of a woman who could only be single for a minute. For her to be with Danny Blaze, her literal polar opposite, had Jaime perplexed. If they made love, would the room fill with smoke or water vapor? That was a question on his mind while the world's safety was at risk. It wasn't awkward for them to be in the same group after all that went down in El Paso, even after that hands up the shirt thing. Jaime kept a respectable space between them as he didn't want to interfere with her relationship.

Mar'eyna rarely had to use her speed bursts due to her already mastered abilities in flight and teleportation. One of her memories was Klarion making the ground crumble under her feet and leading her to Hell. She ended up in limbo and she couldn't stop running, physically. She thought her bursts would let her be done with and move on to the next thing. Mar'eyna ran in that hamster wheel with chained feet for what felt like days. To this day, she can't decipher whether that all actually occurred or was just another Post Traumatic Mission nightmare. There was one time she was positive she was awake to use her speedburst. When the Team(circa pre-M'gann, when it was Astruma, KF, Aqualad, and Robin) had to save a burning lab and the scientists inside it. In the room she was checking, the flames wet barely tolerable, but she didn't feel like was going to go unconscious right then and there. The fire rose substantially and the window glass burst outwards into the street. This was back when heat and flames were scary enough to her to make her cry. Mar'eyna jumped out of the fifty foot high window, went splat into the pavement, got up, and sprinted eastwards for a day not looking back until she felt like she retreated far enough. She licked up her everlasting tears whenever she got dehydrated during her escape. She refused to be engulfed in flames.


	15. Chapter 14

Meanwhile in Smallville, Kansas. I just had another slow moment where I forgot that sometimes Metropolis is near Smallville. But for my own advantage, Metropolis is in Delaware in this story

A year of dating causes for a step forward, doesn't it? Daniel thought so. Likewise with his girlfriend. Though, there wasn't much to step forward into. They knew each other's parents, siblings(Mar'eyna's older sister came to Earth briefly and Daniel got to meet another alien), and first cousins. There wasn't much to discover about each other except what was under their clothes. That was four year anniversary territory. The couple still hadn't had their first make out. Daniel still hadn't touched what Jaime did. It was healthy, what they had. Communication was great: it made up for the lack of length in physical contact. Mar'eyna's tolerance for heat changed from three to fifteen seconds. She wanted to feel some piping tongue, but had too much pride to ask. Daniel was too much of a gentleman to ask to French.   
One thing the opposites hadn't done was meet each one's grandparents. Mar'eyna knew better to ask, since all four of Daniel's were no longer with him. Mar'eyna couldn't teleport to Heaven. Daniel took the lead and said he'd love to meet more of her family. Her boyfriend wouldn't've been able to breathe on the moon, so the next best thing was to introduce him to more of her adoptive Earth family. She convinced her father to pay his parents a visit and let Daniel tag along. Her argument was, "I don't want them to pass before meeting the father of their great grandchildren." Clark could only raise a brow, sigh, and tell her to pack a suitcase, they were driving down.   
Clark respected Daniel more as a hero than as his daughter's boyfriend. Whenever the young brunette was over, he made him do frivolous tasks like fetching the mail and vacuuming the living room. Daniel never asked questions as he just wanted approval. Clark had to give him points for asking for his blessing before asking Mar'eyna to be his girlfriend. The reporter told himself that he'd go easy on Daniel once the youngin got a job.   
Daniel felt out of place in the countryside of the States. Clark had a handful of new chores for him, that were originally his from Pa. Daniel was smart enough to pack old flannels and ripping jeans just in case something like that happened. Mar'eyna watched from the window, tired from being up in the afternoon instead of sleeping through it. She twirled her hair as she admired how Daniel's back muscles glazed over with sweat once he took off his white t-shirt before finishing to mow the lawn. It was the midst of fall, but the weather was still hot. Too hot for Mar'eyna to go out and not get lightheaded.   
"Where's Daddy? I think Daniel's done." Mar'eyna spoke to her grandmother, who everyone called Ma.   
"With Pa at the market. We need mix for breakfast tomorrow." Ma was in the kitchen, that was separated from the dining table with a long, marble counter. She was stirring lemonade in a pitcher, filled with so much ice, some of the juice was spilling over. Ma put the pitcher in the sink to ensure no more got on the floor. "Do me a favour, Mary. Get the roll of paper towels from the downstairs bathroom."  
Mar'eyna muttered under her breath that the spill wasn't her problem before stretching and heading to the bathroom. She cleaned that floor with a papel towel under her foot to spare her grandmother from bending over. Mar'eyna wasn't that much of a douche, come on.   
"Why don't you bring Daniel a glass? That was a lot of lawn." Ma took a sliced lemon piece and dipped it into sugar before putting it on the rim of the cup. Mar'eyna took off her lavender coloured robe to step out without getting heatstroke. She did her best not to jostle the lemonade as she headed down the few stairs. Mar'eyna turned the corner of the house to where Daniel was in the backyard. He was now laying on the freshly cut grass with a stick of wheat in his mouth. He had the denim button up he had on earlier over his stomach to save himself from sunburn. He looked to his left where he saw Mar'eyna's purple painted toes in his peripheral. Her shadow cast over him.   
"Thirsty?" She kneeled to hand Daniel the lemonade.   
"Parched." He sat up on his elbows to take the cup. His overshirt slipped down his navel, exposing himself to the future skin cancer. He thanked her before chugging it like he just travelled a thousand miles in the Sahara and finally found an oasis. Mar'eyna stroked his sweaty hair. Her gaze was focussed on his fit chest and abdomen. She probably only saw it once in her whole life, and that was when his family took her to Hershey Park and he went swimming. She didn't go on any water related rides because chlorine burned her gills.   
"I think Daddy will be gracious to you for the rest of the weekend." Mar'eyna gathered his t-shirt for him as he stood up, ready to reenter the air conditioned environment. It was only Friday, and they were only in Kansas for six hours. The sun had rose once Mar'eyna stepped out of the car, and automatically drained, she insisted on taking a nap right on the gravel trail. Clark dragged her inside after Daniel reached to pick her up to take her in.   
"I didn't mind the work out." He put a perspiring arm around her waist. His timing was imperfect as Clark pulled up in the driveway with a honk. Ma came out to greet her son and husband while Daniel and Mar'eyna helped bring in the brown paper bags, which looked like more than just pancake mix.   
"The grass looks a little uneven." Clark commented with a hand over his eyes to shield them from the brightness. Daniel pursed his lips for a second before putting a bag into Mar'eyna's portal, which she gently landed on the counter.   
"Give the boy a break. He's been mowing since we left an hour and a half ago." Pa said. "It was your job anyway." He sideeyed his Kryptonian son while adjusted his watch up his wrist.

"It's odd to see stands of honey instead of hot dog carts at every corner." Daniel said about his sightseeing prior him walking down the dusty road with Mar'eyna, hand in hand. He had a small bag of apples in his other hand while Mar'eyna had mason jars of jam in hers.   
"Pink ladies aren't in season up north." Mar'eyna claimed. "Everything is always in season here. That's the only thing I like about Kansas besides my grandparents and their neighbours. They always make too much casserole and slide over some in those fancy glass pans. Delicious." Her mouth watered from thinking about it. Daniel was smiling over at her as she went on about the small pros of the quiet life. He saw something spiral down behind her with a pink streak left in the sky. Mar'eyna turned around when she heard the noise of whatever it was hitting the bales of hay on the other side of the road. Daniel stepped in front of her as they both slowly approached the destroyed hay.   
"Maybe someone just shot a bird." Mar'eyna suggested with a whisper.   
"Birds don't spin out of the sky with a pink trail." Daniel trotted to the site before she could to make sure it was safe. They both searched through the stray hay for the projectile. He was beginning to see a pink glow and moved the hay out of the way some more.   
A pink ring emerged and levitated about two feet in the air. It spun in place. Mesmerised, Daniel aimlessly felt around for Mar'eyna to get her attention. His hand dragged down her face and she looked in his direction. She inhaled and put her hands over her cheeks.   
"It's a ring!"  
"No kidding." Daniel responded with a light layer of sarcasm. He tried to touch it with the tip of his index finger. With a spark, he was shocked. He pulled his hand back to his body at the contact. "Son of a whore!" He ailed. It was more than a mere rubbing socks on a carpet than touching something shock.   
Mar'eyna cupped her hands around it and clasped it. The glow could be seen through the small openings between her fingers.   
"Is this call the League worthy?"  
"Let's just go back to the house. Mr. Kent should know what to do." Daniel helped her off her knees and she teleported them to the house. She left the jam behind on accident.

Clark was examining the ring with his glasses on. To him, it was clearly a form of a Lantern ring. He was unaffected by the shocks he was getting from it. The questions at hand was why it was pink and why it landed in a field in Smallville.   
"We'll continue this Sunday." Clark said, setting the ring down just for it to float up again. "Get some sleep."  
"Its two." Daniel chimed in.   
"Was talking to the nocturnal elephant in the room."   
Mar'eyna was struggling to keep her eyes open while she sat at the dining table. Her head jerked up once she began to snore. Daniel nudged her to get her to get up and go upstairs. She just ended up slamming her head on the table and continuing her snooze. Now he had to suffer more being alone with the Superman, who probably had a million more wacky things for him to do.   
"Grab something camo." Clark directed. "We have a few hours before she wakes up." Daniel didn't ask any questions. He went to the guest room he was staying in and sorted through his suitcase.


	16. Chapter 15

Continuation of last chapter

"You wouldn't be able to understand that special moment, Mary. He called me son. Son!" Daniel emphasised. It was Sunday morning and the city slickers were about to hit the road early to deal with the alien object. "All I had to do was merk a fawn. Then a buck, but still. The appeal is massive. That was one of the most important days of my life. I felt like crying tears of pride." He had Mar'eyna sit on his luggage while he zipped it up. It was like he was going home with more than what he brought. Her legs were crossed at the ankle and her back was facing him. "All set." She got up and dusted her skirt off. Her seeing-off outfit was a little much, but she had to make a statement when he got out the car in the north.   
"Congratulations Danny. You've been paternally approved." She turned around to poke him on the nose. "You must feel so special."  
"I do."   
"Terrific."  
"Fantastic."  
Mar'eyna teleported all their stuff, including her father's luggage, into the trunk of his car. The goodbyes were way too long and meaningful, like it was Ma and Pa's last time seeing them and they were going to die the next day. They were only like in their sixties; they were being dramatic. Mar'eyna did accept those bills of twenties as her seeing off gift. Accepted all five of them graciously. Mar'eyna was going to invest in more costumes just to have some form of variety. Maybe something blue instead of pink to represent that fellow hydrokinesis.   
Mar'eyna called shotgun, but still ended up in the backseat like she did on the way down to Kansas. Why, she oughta drag Daniel by the hair into the backseat with her. If she couldn't have it, she wasn't gonna go through it alone. To compensate for her time, Mar'eyna requested that she got the audio jack. Clark gave props to his daughter for having a fine taste in music; either musical soundtracks or classic 70s-80s jams. Daniel enjoyed an Aerosmith song that came on shuffle. Clark had to tell her to skip a Rocky Horror Picture Show track, the one where Janet was about to lay one down on Rocky. You'd understand if you indulged in that amazing movie.

Hal and John examined the ring for Superman, muttering to themselves and whispering amongst each other. It still shocked almost everyone who touched it.   
"Yeah, it's a ring." Hal concluded.   
"No kidding." Superman was in the other side of the room, doing something important on the large screen, most likely more research since Hal could only be so helpful.   
John Stewart moved the ring near his vision with a pencil through the finger part to see any extra details. "This is the Star Sapphire corps insignia." John realised. Hal's attention shifted back to the ring from the same information Superman pulled up.   
"Sounds too familiar to me." Hal had a brief flashback of his ex fiancée, Carol. She had only been swooped up by the Star Sapphire corps a year ago, and he hadn't seen her since her departure. What a great memory, he thought with sarcasm lingering off each word dictated by the reading voice in his head.   
"They're just Green Lanterns...but all girls?" Superman rubbed his hairless chin.   
"More or less." John chimed in. "While we ensure the safety of all 3600 sectors, the Sapphire Corps, or the Violet Lanterns, spread love throughout."  
"Why love of all things? Can you become a Violet Lantern solely by loving? Everybody loves, it's not like will or hope or life." Superman paced near the long typepad of buttons and keys and Hal now sat with his arms crossed, still trying to get Carol out of the back of his mind.   
"Anyone could say the same for fear and avarice; 3600 sectors don't greatly benefit from it." Hal mumbled to the group.   
"But those are negative emotions." said Superman.   
"Exactly." The Lanterns said with unison. "But this ring means that somewhere in Kansas, there's a dying or already dead Violet Lantern. There's no lantern shaped battery that came with this?" Hal continued on as Superman shook his head at the battery part.   
"Astruma and Danny Blaze only found the ring."   
"Then we have a plain to search. Let's hope we're not too late." John lead them all to the Zeta tubes to start their flight back to Smallville. The ring continued to rotate slowly in the air and occasionally blink its pink-like light.

"Who would win: Superman or Green Lantern? One prep day, morals off. The location is Atlantic City on the boardwalk." Daniel shuffled through his collectible Justice League cards, that were just pictures of the heroes' posters printed small on cardboard. He had three of each Leaguer and two of each Team member, the ones who weren't in the wave of juvenile newcomers with the exception of Blue Beetle's card. He was playing his little game with his brother Ethan and Jaime Reyes at the Carter household. Because the sixteen to eighteen year olds still loved to play with cards that weren't related to strip poker. Mar'eyna was down in the kitchen with Mrs. Carter, who was showing her how to make chicken tetrazzini. Mar'eyna asked if the family was Italian, and she learned they were Irish and Dutch. She wished she agreed to play "Who'd Win?" instead of calling it stupid. The couple returned from Kansas a day ago.   
"Green Lantern; he can make kryptonite and poison Superman and win, no matter the location." Jaime answered.   
"But Superman can sock Green Lantern so quick, the poor guy wouldn't see it coming. And he could punt him to the moon in the blink of an eye." Ethan objected. "Green Lanterns only make things, Superman has real super powers. Such as strength and heat vision."  
"Woah woah woah! Being able to create anything in the Universe is a superpower you fool!" Daniel slapped his stack on the ground. "Green Lantern could reform Krypton and give Superman PTSD and then strike." He swung his arms like he had a bat. "And the mace could have kryptonite spikes."  
"See, you keep using 'could.' This is about the cans. Can Lanterns make anything that isn't green?! They can only make a regular quartz that's green and call it kryptonite." Ethan defended his cause.   
"That's a technicality." Jaime pointed. "Even without using kryptonite, GL can make a huge sphere and trap Superman and starve him out." Daniel snapped his fingers at him.  
"See?! Green Lantern would win against Superman."   
Ethan shook his head so vigorously with irritability. "That's also a technicality! Superman can steal his ring before te fight begins! What are you ingrates even saying?!"   
Mar'eyna knocked on the door and entered before getting permission.   
"Your mom said stop screaming or she's gonna take your Wii."  
Daniel put a hand over his face. "I've told her a million times, it's a PS4." He muttered.   
Ethan got up off of the tan carpet and came over to Mar'eyna and put his hands on her weak shoulders--despite her saying that she 'lifts'--and shook her.   
"Thank God you're here. You can provide us with the answer we need. Who'd win between Superman and Green Lantern? Boardwalk, one prep day."  
"Superman."  
"You chose the right girl, little brother." He patted Mar'eyna on the hair.

Superman and Hal wrapped the body up in the twine used for the haystacks. John put the body into a four foot deep ditch. They had the ring's battery balancing on the fence. The unfortunate woman was no other than a member of the Star Sapphire Corps with her specific Lantern logo on her pink top. She was found not too far from where Danny saw the ring land, she was a hundred meters down backwards. Questioning how the ring got so far, Hal rested his hand and chin on the shovel. Seeing the body from the sky, he had gotten shook when he viewed the pink uniform and jet black hair, thinking it was Carol. Relieved as he was when he saw the woman had blue skin and an entirely different body type, Hal dropped to his knees and looked up before he started to dig the grave. Respects were given before the trio flew back to the Hall with the battery.   
Summoned, Mar'eyna had to take off her oven mitts and put her shoes on. She thought she'd be back before the boys upstairs noticed.   
Thought.   
Mar'eyna had assumed she was getting deported back to Lunaria when the Lanterns and her dad hopped into Hal's ship and went to outer space. Right past the atmosphere like it wasn't even present. She called down when they all passed the moon. Ring on her finger, Mar'eyna put her hand against the glass and looked out the transparent green tint window. Never had she seen that part of the Universe. She'd only gone as far as Jupiter.   
"I demand to know what's going on. Like, immediately." Mar'eyna spoke as she began to see an influx of blue skinned women just floating about, conversing.   
"You'll know when we arrive." Hal said.  
"Clearly I won't since I've never been around these parts. So stop this weird rocket and fill me the fuck in or else when we get back to Earth, I'm filing a restraining order."  
"I'm so scared." Hal's voice was monotone and showed no enthusiasm or patience for the young woman's threats.   
"Lose the attitude or I'm tucking and rolling," Mar'eyna slid off the ring and her fireproof glove to scratch her knuckles. Odd place to be itchy. "You know what?" Mar'eyna began pushed on the door handle that Hal so generously crafted for the ship. It wouldn't budge. "Unlock this shit yo."   
"Made it." John noted and Hal opened the roof off the ship and everyone hopped out, except Mar'eyna who started to think the situation was a lot like, "Yeller's my dog, I'll take him out back." She stayed on her toes, metaphorically. She knew she wasn't gonna be killed or anything like that, but her getting left and ditched was her main suspicion. She started to think of all the bad things she had done since the beginning of the year.   
Superman to told her follow along as the Lanterns lead the way to a large mauve sphere.


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mar'eyna is now a Star Sapphire, aka, a Violet Lantern

Mar'eyna wiped away the waterfall of tears coming from her eyes as her father turned his back to her and left Zamaron without any words besides, "We'll be back for you in a month." She cried into a woman's shoulder as he and the Lanterns went back to the green ship and left the planet. The woman, who was assigned to be her mentor by John Stewart, patted the young girl's hair. Poor Mar'eyna was hysterical. Ditched on a place she was unfamiliar with and not even a parting hug or kiss on the forehead. If she were wearing any form of concealer, it would've washed away with the tears that came out literally like powerful water coming from a faucet. Her shirt was drenched and so was her mentor's. She had never felt so abandoned in her life, except that time Superman forgot her at the supermarket when she was six. But at least she knew how to get home from ACME. Her feelings towards Hal weren't any more positive. Her unrequited lover had caused all this, having the big idea to send her to a foreign part of the Universe with no explanation other than the sole purpose of the ring landing in Kansas when it did. Thinking about how betrayed she felt, her sorrow turned to anguish. She gripped the collar of her shirt and put her face inside as she slid down to lay on the ground and carry on with her emotions. When she was able to control herself, she got up and adjusted herself. Mar'eyna slid off the ring and threw it as hard as she could, as far as she could. It only went around Zamaron and hit her in the back of the head, like it was magnetically attracted to her.   
She gave up trying to make the ring disappear after an hour. If she couldn't teleport it away, there was nothing she could do. Mar'eyna accepted her fate. She had no issue with becoming a Lantern. But it was the ring's fault for choosing her to wear it and causing her to be separated from her father for a long thirty days. Mar'eyna got to contemplate how much she took her father for granted and treated him so badly. She was no longer upset with him, rather upset at Daniel, who just had to go through hay to satisfy his curiosity. At the end of the day, she figured she had no one to blame, not even herself. Whatever her purpose for bearing the Star Sapphire ring, she'd fulfill it. Like she had a choice.  
Her mentor came back and helped her off her knees after seeing Mar'eyna had gathered herself. With a gentle voice, she introduced herself as D'mania, the Star Sapphire of the three thousand five hundred fourteenth sector. Mar'eyna took her hand and got back on her feet. Dabbing under her eye, Mar'eyna told her name. Her usual high volume was debunked to a raspy whisper from her fit. D'mania told Mar'eyna that she was going to make her a successful Star Sapphire, and sealed her promise with two hands on the Lunarian's shoulders.   
Mar'eyna was then showed to her barracks in the maybe sphere. It was quite spacious, but vacant besides the bunk bed and large wardrobe. D'mania explained that the Guardians had not chosen a new Star Sapphire in a decade, so the room hadn't been used in a long time, also that Mar'eyna would have the room to herself. The Zamaron told her to settle in and unpack. She left Mar'eyna to her business.   
With no possessions besides the clothes on her back and her small purse with seven American dollars, one five and eight quarters, she climbed up to the top bunk and sat, admittedly comfortable on the memory foam mattress. She lay on her back, shoes and all, and stared at the dome shaped ceiling above her. A month here wouldn't be too unbearable, she thought.

There was no sun on Zamaron, or any natural, genuine light source for that matter. Mar'eyna couldn't rest. She needed real light to sleep or even feel tired. Propping up a flashlight near her face didn't help in the slightest. Her days were sleepless for the month she was there.   
Mar'eyna was absentminded about the environment she was in for no more than a week. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know the planet lacked any trace of a Y chromosome. She only realised she was surrounded by women when they decided to hold a council meeting right outside her window. D'mania tried to explain why the Star Sapphires held a vendetta against men afterwards. She narrated the anecdote about how the Violet Lanterns were built off the hurt women received from men, and how they must spread love so no one will feel the way that they did in the past. Mar'eyna cut her off, saying that she loved guys and she never was hurt by one. D'mania shook her head at the protégé's naivety. Was she not hurt when her father left her on alien planet? Mar'eyna said it's not the same; her love for men and her love for her father. The Zamaron explained the ring doesn't discriminate different types of love since they're all apples from the same tree. She proceeded to make Mar'eyna relive her betrayal while she gave reasons as to why Mar'eyna should want revenge on men, starting with the three who ditched her.   
"See, the only problem with that is I still live with my dad. And fighting him then going home would be awkward. Also, I kinda owe him fifteen years of his life." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I refuse to hurt people who hurt me that are in the League. They strong enough to throw me back home."  
"You'll see that men are the root of women's despair, Mar'eyna. Maybe not now, but soon." D'mania persuaded with a stroke of Mar'eyna's hair, sealed with a pat. She lowered herself to Mar'eyna's height. "Who knows? Maybe the ring chose you for something that hasn't happened yet."   
Mar'eyna understood only the fifth word of her mentor's every sentence. The accent was thick enough to cut through, it was like a nasally Russian had a child with a Swede; a mess and a half. Regardless, Mar'eyna nodded to show her understanding.   
D'mania pet her for the hundredth time before leaving her to herself. Mar'eyna watched her leave until the door was shut. The next thing that she did was try to jump in her portal and go back to Earth. Like it did every time, it spit her back out. She made a conclusion that there was a small possibility the Zamarons were smarter than she gave them all credit for. Defeated, she went on her top bunk and just glared at the ceiling, thinking up scenarios for when she got back to Earth. Several of which were Green Lantern's demise. Actually, demise was a bit much; she wasn't mad enough to be driven to murder. Maybe she'd smash his ring battery with her foot. Yeah, that fit much better.

Mar'eyna was sparing her sparring partner from complete humiliation as she pinned her down for the third time, no ring power needed. She took off her opponent's ring and tossed it elsewhere in the room when she won.   
Her month stretched for an extra week; on the contrary, Mar'eyna was content with that. Not having to answer to Superman was something she could've gotten used to. She was leaning against the sphere, playing ball against the wall with a rubber bundle of gloves and a rock being the base. Where she got the gloves?: irrelevant. She'd been playing with herself for ten minutes until her arm got tired. Her hair whipped in front of her face and covered her air-filters temporarily. The new source of wind came from John Stewart's ring-produced helicopter, which looked like it was trying to park. No longer in danger of suffocating, Mar'eyna looked at the glowing green craft with squinted eyes like she would if she were looking at the sun. She moved out of the way of the backside propeller.   
Superman hopped out of the vehicle—I don't know if helicopters are classified as such—and floated over to his angel to swoop her up in a tight hug. Not too tight though, he knew what he was capable of.   
Mar'eyna wriggled about in Daddy's arms, unsure if her watering eyes were from joy or anger. She was caught in the middle, ecstatic they came back for her, but pissed it took so long. Not wanting to seem to gushy and forgiving, she chose to only show her negativity. When she was released, Mar'eyna socked her father in the stomach, not fazing him in the slightest.   
"Just take me home." And for the short ride, her arms were crossed for its entirety.


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New character? maybe. Hotel? Trivago

I wrote this while half asleep.

"Daddy, do you love me?" Mar'eyna picked at her sausage patties mixed with her eggs. Her stare was fixed on Clark's blue eyes. He was looking over his round glasses as he slurped up Mar'eyna's homemade spaghetti and ground beef. A splatter of sauce got on his nose.   
"Of course I do, Mary." Clark dabbed his mouth around the sides with his napkin. Mar'eyna smiled wide as she drank her glass of OJ. Seeing her devious smile, he added, "What else could you want? Your birthday passed."   
Mar'eyna put her cup down and pouted, then traced circles on her place mat. "Can't I just renew my father's love? Though. Since you brought it up..." she glanced up at him from across the table. She went in her pocket and unfolded a piece of paper with the item she wanted and slid it across the table. Clark didn't even bother to look at the picture.   
"No." He said sternly.   
"Then I'll just ask Daniel. He'd probably be happy to receive my gratefulness in the form of affection behind closed doors." Mar'eyna shrugged her shoulders with her arms folded. She finished her six PM breakfast as Clark didn't even go back to eating his dinner.   
"I'm the adult. You're not going to persuade me out of my decisions." He put his foot down metaphorically, tired of Mar'eyna's bratty post-birthday behaviour.She rolled her eyes. Clark stayed silent, knowing a response would only encourage her.   
"I'm starting to think you love Lois more than you love me."  
"That's a different type of love." Clark twirled his fork in the noodles. Seeing that he didn't make eye contact, Mar'eyna instigated further.   
"What kinda way you love her?" She tried to play naive.   
Clark knew her game, but answered to stop her from continuing. "The way Mar'kus and Mar'ania love each other."  
"So you wanna have babies with her? Wow. Clark, I didn't know you were such a committed man."  
Clark cracked the tiniest, teeniest smile. "You say that as if Jon wasn't born ten years ago,"  
"I choose not to embrace his presence."  
"When you go to college, I'm turning your room into my man-cave." Jon chimed I'm after bringing a second plate of spaghetti from the kitchen.   
"I've never seen that child in my life." Mar'eyna pointed behind her with her thumb where Jon stood. "Never."  
"This is why you're adopted." Jon sat on the seat closest to his father.   
"This is why you're parents are divorced." Mar'eyna crossed her ankles under the table. "Daddy, I don't think this is your weekend."  
"Finish your breakfast." Clark demandes as he scrolled through his phone app of the newspaper Lois wrote an editorial in. Reporters, am I right? Jon stuck out his tongue at her once Clark wasn't looking up. "We're happily dating, mind you."  
"Hear that Jonny? You were conceived outta wedlock. You're a bastard."   
"Funny. Reminds me of when I heard conceivable noises coming from your room when Daniel was here but Dad wasn't."   
Clark looked up from his phone. "Excuse me?"   
Mar'eyna tried to stretch her leg enough to kick Jon in the leg. "Stop dickeating. You don't even know what conceivable means. Daddy, you know I'd never bring Danny over when you're not around." She side eyed, knowing that she couldn't look her father in the eyes when she lied.   
"Don't fall for her tricks. You're not the only one she calls that." Jon mumbled, ineffectively being quiet enough for Clark's superhearing to pick up.

Mar'eyna went along with Hal on his Lantern related mission. She customized her Star Sapphire costume into something a hooker on break would wear. She had on magenta fishnets and a black leotard with the Violet Lantern insignia in the center. Hal refused to take her anywhere until she put on a sweater, knowing that outfit was her way of attempting seduction. Mar'eyna came back with a non-correlating purple peacoat.   
Mar'eyna stared out the window of the green jet as she questioned their destination after seeing they passed the last of the outer planets. Thankfully, the route Hal was on wasn't leading back to Zamaron. He told her to buckle up as he shifted the jet ninety degrees, where the nose was pointing up as it sped by the stars. Mar'eyna fell out of her seat completely as she didn't have enough time to strap in. She teleported back to the front of the jet where the control pad was. Hal apologized, keeping his masked eyes on the "road." Mar'eyna unbuttoned her coat as the temperature rose the further up they went. Hal reminded her not to fully take it off. Mar'eyna let it fall off her shoulders. Adjusted to the gravity, Mar'eyna toured around the jet like there was much to see besides the seats, crafted doors that led nowhere and a control pad. Mar'eyna let her fingertips tap rhythmically on the back of the pilot chair where Hal sat. Then her hands went to around his shoulders.   
"Needed something to hold onto."  
"Get back into your seat and strap in. We gotta pass the atmosphere. It's thick." Hal cautioned as he messed around with the stick shifts and buttons. Glancing at Mar'eyna to make sure she heard him and she was seated, Hal saw she was no longer in the jet. Barely panicked, Hal landed safely a few minutes later.   
The operation was a complex one. Hal had to go over it four times with Mar'eyna. And he, himself, had to get Batman to repeat the objectives and strategy. There was a planet a few sectors away from Earth that had the same properties of the Sun. The heat was nowhere as severe, or Hal would need some special equipment to complete the assignment. The planet had no recorded name, but the single colony upon it was dubbed Usolo. The colony was ruled by the royal family; a king, queen, and their only child, a boy, now a man. Usolo made many threats to all planets to assert power. The universe didn't take seriousness; the Solonian Army was weak. A single JROTC could take down several waves of their soldiers. That was why the League only sent Hal, who brought Mar'eyna. Usolo never came to try and invade Earth until today. The League knew Usolo had no chance, but they don't take threats lightly. In lamer terms, Hal and Mar'eyna had to neutralize the already weak enemy, invade the castle, gain power, and get rid of the military. The complex part about the explanation was the whole gaining power part. Mar'eyna didn't want to have to have control over such a wuss of a colony. A sun-bases colony no less. Lunarians never liked Usolo, not because of any unjust war or attacking generations ago, only because water and fire don't mix, the moon and the sun are opposites. Why be in cahoots? Hal stepped out of his jet, no guard up. He caught up with Mar'eyna, who was already waiting right near the outer wall of the colony. They walked in together, knowing they'd go home in a few minutes. It was nothing to just overthrow the king. Hal would put him in one of his ring-made cages and take the throne. Boom. Done.   
"It's too hot for me, Harold." Mar'eyna fanned her profusely perspiring face. She'd only been on the surface for fifteen minutes. "I feel light headed."   
Hal noticed her breathing a lot heavier, with less time between each inhale and exhale. He took her jacket for her. Her shoulders were red and her hair was sticking to her back from the sweat. She took off her gloves, then she put her hair in a ponytail to cool off a smidge. Maybe the mission wouldn't be as much as a breeze as he thought, while Mar'eyna slowly becoming more of a deadweight. Hal had forgotten about her susceptibility to heat. It only felt like 110 degrees at the most, and it was bearable.   
"Are you gonna he able to hold up for a few more hours?"   
"No." Mar'eyna stopped to catch her breath. Her hand supported her on a wall. She put her other hand up on the wall as she painted briefly. "We have to do this now. Quickly." She wiped her neck before rushing ahead to the castle, trying to get the mission over with. Hal flew close above her. She got the idea to fly as well. Even only ten feet above the ground, the heat rose exponentially, as 110 went to 130, Hal's close to breaking point. There were no civilians, or houses or even flats. The whole colony was solely a thousand meter tall stone castle, where the poorest of the poor lived on the bottom floor; the wealthier, the higher off the ground floor. Mar'eyna saw that the top of the castle was made of a completely different stone than the bottom floor. Gold? Copper? The colony's sun shone in a way that she couldn't decipher the difference in colours. Mar'eyna teleported them both inside. The first floor was drowned in the stench of wet dog and mud. A hog trotted past them. She teleported them up a dozen floors, trying to see the floor the Army was stationed. The search was short. The men in their brown military coats and gray pants drank at a large table. All their hair was curly, just like everyone else's on the first to thirtieth floor. The ombrés altered between yellow to orange to red and yellow to orange. No one's roots weren't blonde. The thing about the table was it was stretched out for fiftyfeet. Everyone sat on the same side with their backs to the door. Mar'eyna did the keeping mum to Hal as she opened her portal and pulled out her grandfather's pistol, which she snatched up while she was in Kansas. The room was filled with clamor. Hal couldn't hear his own footsteps as he approached Mar'eyna to take the gun from her. They fought over it with a game of tug of war. Mar'eyna pulled the trigger as a warning shot once the gun had been twisted to turn up to the ceiling. The sound of the bullet hitting the candle lit chandelier made the rest of the room so silent. The Solonians slammed their small barrel mugs down and turned around in unison.   
"Look what you've done, Hal!" Mar'eyna smacked him in his arm. She took back her gun and aimed it at the men at the table. They had no idea what she was holding, and murmured among themselves instead of getting up and playing offense. "Nobody move!" She warned.   
"We're here to neutralize, not kill."   
"Shut the fuck up." She muttered. Mar'eyna fired at the nearest Solonian's knee. He cried out in pain. The rest began to slowly stand up, reaching under the table first to grab their maces and shields. The first one to charge at them was shot in the stomach. Hal gave Mar'eyna a scolding glare, in which she replied, "Defensive measures."   
The door opened behind them. She kind of looked over her shoulder, trying not to mostly turn away from the crowd. Hal stepped behind her to face whatever was at the door, watching her back for her. Not the most chivalrous thing since the majority of the threat was in her direction.   
There was only an ombré haired man in the way. Hal could only barely perceive any distinguishing features with the light emanating from behind the figure making him appear dark. (Excuse the rest of this chapter. I'm using a complex Sentence developer for the Solonian's speech. Very helpful)  
"I auricularly discerned noises and racket. What's going on?"  
Hal knew it couldn't be the king. With all the gold and silver jewelry and crystal crown glimmering, it could only be his son. The king's, not Hal's. Just for clarification. He recalled his name from the mission briefing.   
Hal made his own wrapping from his ring: a decent, appropriately sized harpoon.   
"Nazim of Usolo. We're here to take you down and your corrupt military with you. There will be no more toleration of this colony's threats. You messed with the wrong planet!" He lectured. The named prince put his hand over the arrow of the weapon. Nazim stepped into the room's light and closed the door behind him.   
"You verbalize that. But it seems you've only brought yourself and I don't recollect visually perceiving any other aliens in my castle. Cocky; cerebrating you're going to ambulate in here and endeavor to get me to turn in my crown."   
The prince's voice was warming; gentle and welcoming almost, despite his words. Mar'eyna didn't turn to see who Hal was up against, not wanting to break away eye contact from the thirty odd armed men in front of her. Her heart melted a little from the speaker, as his voice was like a leaf going down a quiet, calm river.   
"He sounds like a hottie." Mar'eyna tapped Hal with her heel on his calf.   
"And this is who you bring to fight me? That's piteous. Not only is she a girl, she's withal a toddler." Nazim circled the back-to-back heroes. The harpoon was in his back now; Hal followed him, kept him as somewhat of a hostage. Nazim kneeled in front of Mar'eyna and spoke, making her girlhood tremble. "And what are you doing here? Are you being visually examined over while your parents are away? Is that madman your nanny? What's your designation, little girl?"  
"I'm too old for a babysitter." Mar'eyna pointed the gun at his head. The Solonians were in limbo. If they moved, the prince would have a harpoon through his heart and...whatever that L shaped weapon spat out—would be in his head. "They call me Astruma."  
"Gorgeous, charmingly resplendent calling. Just what is your age?"  
"Legal." Mar'eyna lied. She clicked her tongue and winked. Hal rolled his eyes, seeing she wasn't taking the situation seriously.   
Nazim suppressed a sincere chuckle. He got off his knee and stood. The gun and harpoon followed him.   
"Remember Mar'eyna: Neutralize; don't kill." Mar'eyna sucked her teeth as that was the hundredth reminder Hal gave.   
"You know what we do to pubescent girls?"   
"How should I know? I'm not from this sauna of a palace." She angled the gun like a gangster.   
"Men." Nazim looked over his shoulder to his soldiers. "Detain this moon child. Be gentle. Put her in the cell near the bunker for her...examination."  
"Touch her and I'll impale you." Hal threatened. "Just surrender Nazim. We got you."  
Her heart fluttered with her eyelashes. "Aww! Baby, you do care!"   
"Oh, hush,"   
A few men stepped forward to take Mar'eyna. Hal formed a thick wall and pushed them all back with it, leaving the Solonians to be crushed between the green bricks and the wood of their gathering space. Nazim looked at his struggling subjects with disappointment, muttering they could have dodged that.   
"Just put your hands up and come with us. The ship is outside."   
"Negative."  
Nazim grabbed Mar'eyna's wrists with one hand and twisted swiftly, sounding a snap. The gun dropped at his feet. Nazim was moving at super speed. He picked up the gun before it hit the floor. It was now in between Hal's eyes. Time caught up with them. Noticing his position, Hal made a replica of Mareyna's pistol. It pointed to the prince's neck. She ran her hands through his hair in a panic; being no longer armed and now having Hal in harm's way. This mission was supposed to be simple!


	19. Chapter 18

Continuation of last chapter

 

"Please don't hurt him! I'll go with you, look." Mar'eyna walked over to where the majority of the men were with her hands up. A man who was free enough cuffed her. Why army soldiers had police equipment? It's Usolo; anything is possible. The two men at a standoff narrowed their eyes at each other.   
"Have the maids come and avail me with the girl in my quarters. I'll be there anon." Nazim told. He punched Hal with his might in the gut. The wall disappeared and the army could detain Mar'eyna correctly. Hal fought to get up. He was incapacitated by the blow, now curled up in a ball on the floor by Nazim's feet. "I'll visually examine you for the time being."   
"If you lay a hand on her..."  
"You'll swear to do what exactly?"  
Silence fell as Hal clutched his stomach, too in pain to even speak.   
"That specifically is what I assumed."   
Nazim picked Hal up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The soldiers were already passing through the door with Mar'eyna in their possession. "Not to fret, Green Lantern. I have not overpowered you. I kenned you were peregrinated. My Krolotean companions notified me of your arrivals."  
Hal was out like a light.   
"I have something you may rest in: a grand, metal cage." Nazim smirked as he went his way to Hal's drop off.

Nazim proceeded into his chamber on the two hundredth floor of the castle where Mar'eyna sat perplexed about her examination. She spoke brashly to the maids only doing what they got paid to do: clean. The two of the three of them were in their early twenties—beautiful, really. If they didn't tidy up so well, Nazim would have considered the one who fixed her hair in a bun to be his concubine, if he ever had the time to use her, that was. His chamber they tended to was luxurious; Nazim believed he wasn't worthy of such a kingly room, but he grew into it. The bed was a circular, triple California king size, clad in the finest, deep red silk sheets. It had four posts and a similar canopy above it, only with gold trimming along the sides. When a tie was tugged, a thick, black lace sheet would cover the whole bed—ideal when Nazim wanted to work but the help was in there; good for privacy. Next was the golden curtains that kept the light out of room. The fabric looked heavy. The windows themselves were thirty feet tall. The carpet was Persian. Mar'eyna didn't know Usolo got imports. Then there was the lavish sofa she was placed on, adjacent to a candle lit desk with stacks of papers on one side and a single sheet on the other. She concluded the prince had better things to do than finish his work. There was many other exquisite and unnecessary objects around, such as random porcelain vases and tall cases of all the prince's crowns—quite the variety, mind you.   
Half an hour after Mar'eyna's surrender, Nazim made his appearance again. She had finally succumbed to the immensity of the heat in the palace. He squatted near her to see if she was breathing. Nazim knew plenty about Lunarians; their weaknesses and strengths more than their culture. He ordered his maids to leave the room while he gave her her examination. The three of them left in a scurry like they were afraid of him. The grand mahogany door with the glass handle shut once the last one was out.   
Nazim took off his grey gloves with the gold lining for blue rubber gloves. He carried her body to his bed and placed her near the edge for easy access. Mar'eyna's legs dangled off the bed, feet not touching the floor. Nazim slid her ring off her glove clad finger and placed it further back on the bed. Her Star Sapphire costume trickled away, leaving her only in her neon pink underwear set, making Nazim's job a little easier.   
He separated her legs.

Hal's pain was now bearable. He let out grunts as he punched his yellow cube cage. It had quite a few large cracks around the area of contact. His newfound energy was well spent on trying to escape. Fortunately, he wasn't being monitored, and when he eventually freed himself, no one could stop him from getting a move on. Hal flew out of the palace from a window he'd busted through. He circled his way up to the first floor where he knew royalty was settled. Hal broke through a second window.   
There were four doors, three were open; one was a bedroom Hal didn't take the time to inspect, another was just a large bathtub that took up the whole room, and the last was the maid's quarters he assumed. He flew over to the only closed door unarmed and kicked it down.   
It was empty, and had the presumed king and queen's portrait hanging above the large bed, which mind you, wasn't Nazim's. The room itself was cluttered with massive minks and grand robes all over the place. Truly a chamber meant for a regal. There was only one maid in there, steam cleaning a red, poofy cloak. She noticed Hal and shrieked. He was already right in front of her and covered her mouth with his.   
"I'll see you around." He told her before running back into the other bedroom. The maid sat there in awe with a confused look and pink cheeks.   
Hal searched what he now knew as the prince's room. It was twenty times tidier than his parents'. The sheets were messy in certain places; a sign of resistance was obvious. Mar'eyna's ring glowed pink and Hal reached for it. His heart dropped, realizing the wearer was no one to be seen.   
The door slammed shut and Hal jumped at the suddenness.   
"May I assist you?" Nazim leaned against his door while he took off his examination gloves. He threw this into a nearby bin.   
"Where did you take Mar'eyna?" He gritted his teeth. Her ring was enclosed in his clenched fist. When Nazim didn't respond quick enough, Hal charged at him with a ring-crafted crowbar.   
"You're sick!" He hollered as he swung repeatedly at Nazim's face and the top of his head. "She's a child!"  
Already disoriented from the blows, Nazim sputtered something in a whisper through the blood coming from his gums and busted lips. He managed to grab the crowbar before another hit landed on him. He physically had the upper hand when it came to Hal.   
"Whom is Mar'eyna?" He coughed out. "I don't ken who you're verbalizing about."   
"You know whom Mar'eyna is! Astruma, dammit! Where is she?"  
"Retrieving habiliments, you crazed baboon. Accompanied by my maids."  
"Why would she need new clothes, bastard? What did you do to her?" He threw his crowbar at Nazim and began strangling him. Mar'eyna's ring rolled away, not too far. Nazim lifted his knees off the ground and tried to use his legs to push the Green Lantern off of him. His hands went to Hal's as he pried him off successfully. Nazim kicked Hal away and off of him.   
"I examined the girl." Nazim wiped his mouth with a quick swipe. Hal was swift with grabbing his crowbar back. "Internally and externally." He lied to get another kick out of the brunette man.   
Hal tossed the bar on the bed and put his hands on his hips. He quickly contemplated whether he should bend the no killing rule. Nazim stood there, recuperating while Hal was silent. The prince went over to the doorknob to leave. Hal launched himself at him with a Superman punch. Nazim fell through the door with Hal on top of him, striking him with a flurry of aimed punches.   
The maids were coming up the stairs with Mar'eyna just as Hal was beginning to run out of energy. She was standing over Nazim's head after approaching. Hal was panting. He looked up to see Mar'eyna, safe and sound in nothing but bright undergarments.   
"Mar'eyna," Hal stood up and let her jump in his arms. "What did he do to you? Are you hurt?"  
"I don't know. I just regained my damn consciousness in the dressing room. It's nice and chilly in there." Mar'eyna explained. "I heard commotion and I came as quick as my long, sexy legs could move. Speaking of, like what you see?" She lifted her leg and it wrapped around his bottom. It hoisted her up a little. Hal was too relieved to comment on her inappropriate behavior.   
"Taking advantage of an incapacitated girl! Have you no remorse, no shame?"  
"Shut up and do something about it if you're so aggravated. Let's optically discern what you can do." Nazim instigated, finally catching a break. He was kicked back down to the hallway carpet by Hal. Mar'eyna was gawking at him with her big ol' eyes. Oh how handsome he looked, holding her and taking care of business. It was moistening.   
"Let me take care of him." She said, slowly unraveling herself from the Green Lantern.   
He could see her intentions in her white, pupilless eyes. "Mar'eyna." He said sternly.   
"Calm yourself. I'm just gonna do what we were assigned to do." She climbed on top of Nazim and gave him the iciest lip lock she could. He tried pushing her tongue out of his mouth. He tried to move his hands to shove her; but they were frozen to the ground. Now that he noticed, his whole body was cold. His legs were now in ice and it slowly traveled upwards. The ice on his hands spread to the midline of his body. Hal hovered off the ground as the whole hallway was freezing over, walls and all. The maids were ice sculptures already. Mar'eyna lifted herself up a bit as the ice was covering his chest. Her lips didn't move off his mouth and Nazim finally stopped wriggling about. Now the ceilings and chandeliers were frozen over. The last thing to freeze in sight was Nazim's face. Mar'eyna partes from him with a wet pop.   
"We don't discuss this around Danny. Okay?"   
"Hell, lets not even discuss this with the League." Hal rubbed the back of his neck. "Give me a second, Mary." He went back into the prince's bedroom to get her ring. It was levitating close to the ground when he grabbed it. He presented it to Mar'eyna on one knee. She was giggling like a schoolgirl. She took it and put it in her bra.   
"Thank you Harold,"  
"I thought you would've put it on since, you know..." he motioned around her being.   
"Oh, I'm warm if that's what you're worried about." She snuggled back up against Hal's chest and wrapped both her legs around his lower back. "Now let's go home."  
Hal carried her to the ship with no questions, figuring she went through enough trauma for one day. He flew out with her through the window he smashed. He saw that she froze the entire palace over, including the surrounding land except for around the ship, conveniently.   
Once they got situated in the ship, Mar'eyna said, "It was cute how you were looking for me, how you almost put the prince in a coma."  
"Please, not now Mary." Hal smacked her hand. "Go take a seat. Where are the clothes the maids gave you?"  
"In my portal."  
"Take them out, put them on, and siddown." He commanded.   
"Or else what?"  
"Or I can tell Daniel about that unnecessary kiss you shared with the prince."  
"How was it unnecessary?" Mar'eyna scratched an itch on her cheek. Her eyes darted to the left.   
Hal responded with saying Mar'eyna could've frozen the palace over just by thinking about it. To which, Mar'eyna denied his statement, saying she needed a physical source to start with. Hal shrugged, not knowing if she was right or just making something up. She dressed herself behind the tall chair she sat in, reminding Hal she wasn't dressing because she was afraid of what he'd tell Danny, but because it was getting cold.


	20. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter. Nothing too spicy.

As a couple, Mar'eyna and Daniel didn't do much when it came to events. Parties and friend gatherings; all that jazz. They were public for sure. Mar'eyna only knew Ethan, and Daniel didn't know any of her friends outside of the Team. Maybe three at the most. Personally, he preferred not to know what kind of trouble his girlfriend got into. On the contrary, Mar'eyna wanted to see Daniel in action. He seemed like the type of guy to play beer pong while sober; him and his white suburban buddies of D.C.  
   Another week went by in their relationship and they figured it was the perfect time to get familiar with each other's crowd. Daniel got invited to one of his "many" black friend's houses for "a good time." Whatever that meant, he was in. It was a while since he'd been on the bad side of town. Ready to use his white card up against any possible cop who received a noise complaint, he sat around and waited for Mar'eyna's portal to show up in his room. For the time being, he changed out of his red top into a blue one, for political reasons.  
   In the Kent household, Mar'eyna was finishing her daily core workout. She held up a side plank for a good thirty minutes, switching sides each five minutes. She showered quickly as she got the "where are you?" Text from Daniel. If she knew what kind of scene she was pulling up to, she wouldn't've wore a dress and her gold hoops.  
   She didn't feel threatened, per se. She'd been around places ten times as ghetto. Hell, she once stood a foot away from a stabbing and a drug deal. Two different occasions. Daniel sent her a text, telling her to wear something she can run in after she had already left. It was no hassle to teleport back and get sneakers, but they were already an hour late.  
   Daniel had her secured with his arm around her waist, keeping them close. His fingers were squeezing her. She smacked his hand just as the door opened, revealing a tall, black skinned man. He almost looked purple. She gulped; not out of fear, but because of excessive saliva building up in her mouth—a normal occurrence.  
   The two guys did their little extended handshake before stepping inside.  
   "Is that your shorty?"  
   "My day one." Daniel put his arm back around Mar'eyna. She squinted her eyes as she tried to decipher the man's features in the darkness of the room, only lit by the occasional green and purple flashing laser lights.  
   "Mary, right? The one you always talking about." Daniel nodded his head in response. "Call me Big D."  
   "No." Mar'eyna said. "What's your real name?"  
   Big D raised one of his thick, hairy brows.  
   "Don't get checked."  
   "Dan, get your girl."  
   "She's good people. She just doesn't like meeting new people."  
   "Not true." Mar'eyna interjected.  
   "Hm." Big D grunted. "Ard. Why don't you get a drink while me and him catch up?" He pointed his thumb at Daniel. Mar'eyna walked off without another word, with Daniel following close behind, excusing himself because, "I don't want her going off alone."  
   Mar'eyna was mixed into a crowd of light skinned girls with large, fake, poofs on their heads, bobbing with every rhythmic move they made with the music. Some were dancing so wildly that their wigs flew off and they didn't care to stop and retrieve them. She made her way through to where the food and drink were. She took a brownie and bit right in. Daniel smacked himself in the forehead once she finished devouring them one by one like a slave breaking into its master's kitchen. He forgotten it was "that type of party," where you literally couldn't leave sober. He regretted taking her to such a place to meet his friends.  
   "Baby?" She slid her hand down his upper arm. "Are you alright?"  
   "I'm good. All good." He said. "Just wondering if I should take you somewhere else. I don't like the vibes here, it's not good for a girl like you."  
   "Like me?"  
   "I know you're a lightweight. Just, I don't want you making a fool out of yourself."  
   "I didn't even start my reign of terror yet."  
   "Oh, trust me. It's gonna be starting soon."  
   Mar'eyna trembled a little, the draft getting up her dress. "What do you mean?"  
   "Those were weed."  
   "I guessed that just by the demographics of this shit party. No offense."  
   "Shit? We just got here." He had to raise his voice to be heard as the jockey played a song everyone but them was loudly rapping to. "I wanna make sure you don't push yourself! That's all, I want you to have fun without getting into anything you can't get out of!"  
   "Same with you, Zuko! Let's just enjoy this time together! I'll stay next to you if you're that concerned!"  
   "Could you?" He shouted a little.  
   "Of course, baby! I wasn't gonna run off anyway. I don't know anyone!" Mar'eyna gave him a smile with teeth before grabbing his hand to put around her waist. He kissed her on top of her head before they got back to the party.  
   Mar'eyna thought it was boring how Daniel wanted to play designated driver. Without pushing him too hard, she tried to convince him to have a drink, to which he all generously declined. His excuse was, "Only take mine on the rocks." Mar'eyna found that reasonable. She came to the conclusion that niggas must love their alcohol cold, not freezing. Pussies.  
   Mar'eyna had to vomit for the third time that night due to the consumption of undercooked appetizers. The first two times were her body reacting to the Juul. Daniel was shaking his head, thinking that Mar'eyna had started to do a little too much. He only had a corner of an edible, learning from experience that you shouldn't take too much at once.  
   Mar'eyna's kicked in in stages; first stage was a pumping vision, it was like a heart beat in her eyes where things magnified and demagnified with each pulse of her actual heart. The second phase was the outlined vision, then the tired speech, then the crazy talk, all concluding with a staggering teenager who couldn't see straight. Daniel tried to keep her seated for her own safety. His buzz was over at about stage three of Mar'eyna's high.  
   "Can't...move." She reached out her hand before it went limp and she passed out. Daniel thought she was just being dramatic. But it did take her longer than he thought to regain consciousness. Her eyes opened, bloodshot and rolled back.  
"Where's the bathroom?" She rushed as she shot up from his lap.  
"I'll walk y—"  
Mar'eyna had opened a portal and threw up inside of it. Bystanders tried to break down what they were seeing. Where was it disappearing into? Daniel pulled her hair behind her shoulders as she finished. She spat a few times to get the excess bits out from on her tongue. 

"Most likely, it was the quantity." Daniel stated, leaned against the bathroom's chipped paint door. Mar'eyna was checking herself in the mirror, looking a tad paler. Nothing too noticeable. After pulling her hair into a quick single braid, she put her hands on either side of the sink.  
"Do you want to leave?" He asked, checking the time on his phone.  
"Not if you don't."  
"Dunno. Only know two people here and I haven't seen them all night so, your pick."  
She dabbed her mouth with a damp paper towel.  
"Seriously, Danny. Me puking isn't anything to get your nipples twisted over. It happens. Especially when you ingest mass quantities of fucking marijuana. And when it's the not the first time tonight. Didn't mean to cuss, but you get te idea. Why don't you step out of your comfort zone while we're here and have a shot."  
"Hey, someone has to make sure the other doesn't lose their keys." Daniel felt the floor bounce and a door slam. He ignored it. Then the second time, when he heard shouting that wasn't on beat to the song, he was at attention.  
"Don't hold back because of me. I'm capable of holding my liquor and other..." she lowered her voice. "Illegal things for people my age." Mar'eyna was ready to leave the bathroom, where Daniel still leaned on the door, almost like he was blocking her way. His eyes darted beside him and he pressed his ear and gloved hands against the door.  
"You don't hear that?"  
"I do, that's why I started whispering. Like people are running around."  
Daniel cracked open the door cautiously, then stepped out in a tip toe manner. Mar'eyna was close behind, linking arms.  
They peeked over the banister to see the commotion that tripled in volume after coming out. Mar'eyna went down the stairs. And looked over the railing.  
The population of the party was on either side while two people tried to put themselves between two arguing and shoving men. She noticed Big D instigating, recording the altercation with the flash on, adding "Worldstar!" to the jumble of intelligible words. The guy with the blue durag popped the guy he was arguing with in the nose. The Latino who got checked began reaching into his pocket and the people on his side of the room tried to restrain his hands.  
   "Niggers." Daniel muttered. "Always fighting."  
   "Woah!" Mar'eyna scoffed. "Hard -er. Not cool. You're not a racist."  
   "Occasionally."  
   "Should we try and stop it?"  
   "If the whole party can't break it up, adding four more hands won't change anything. Let's stay up here for now." Daniel took her hand and led her back upstairs. Just as the stairs creaked with their first movements, a deafening bullet was shot. Mar'eyna and Daniel both looked at each other with wide eyes before rushing upstairs.  He pushed her into a closet as the partygoers began trampling each other to get out of the front door or to any room with a door to hide.  
   Outside, a gun brawl took place. Anyone who was strapped participated while their dates scrambled into the cars they arrived in. Car alarms starting blaring, the downstairs windows were busted and the hood rats began looting. Daniel and Mar'eyna knew all too well that the night had a high possibility of ending up this way. But better sorry than safe. And boy, were they sorry.  
    
   "Never take me out of the suburbs again." Mar'eyna was under Daniel's arm, feeling his heat of his underarm. Daniel's gaze was on the scene. Caution tape was being put up around the twin house. Some people were being questioned while others were seated in the back of cop cars. The host was being charged because of some minors that snuck in and drank the alcohol and smoked the weed.  
   "Our next date is gonna be the movies. Far from here." She declared.  
   "Anywhere you want."  
    
   Every since the incident, they seemed distant towards each other. Less sneaking off during training occurred. And Mar'eyna started hanging out with Jaime more without Daniel. Was he jealous? No. Couples need their space. It was almost a month though, and they were both craving for each other.  
   "Did I do something to you, Mary?" Daniel addressed her after luring her into one of the Cave's many, many rooms with a trail of Froot Loops leading from the kitchen island to the hallway just before the red door in which they were currently standing behind.  
   She shook her head. Her cheeks were puffed out from her storing the cereal in them. She swallowed in one gulp, making Daniel concerned, yet intrigued.   
   "You haven't done anything wrong. Why? Do you think you've done something? Tell me."  
   "I'm asking you. You've been avoiding me." Daniel stepped closer to her.  
   She shrugged and turned her head away from him. Her hair covered the side of her face facing him.  
   "Our anniversary..." she trailed off.  
   "Isn't until spring." Daniel finished. "Trying to trick me?"  
   "Soso. Honestly, baby, I missed you. It was like after we spent twenty minutes in that closet, we haven't been as close."  
   "I was thinking the same exact thing." Daniel rubbed the back of is neck. "I like you. Like, like-like you. A lot. And you know that."   
   "I know."  
   He didn't have his gloves on, and she didn't either. So hugging to make up was out of the question. Mar'eyna had the bright idea to freeze over her lips and hands with the thinnest, coldest layer of ice she could produce. She took brother his hands in hers, and he flinched not knowing about the ice until the contact.  
   "Smart." He praised. Mar'eyna tilted her head as she raised herself on her tiptoes. Daniel got the idea and puckered his lips and filled the gap between them before Mar'eyna could.


	21. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mar’eyna has to make te ultimate sacrifice.

Lunarians have the same prefix with their names. So imma give a brief description of Mar'eyna's siblings.   
Mar'kus Jr.—noted as Junior, has glasses.   
Mar'lin—Mar'eyna's oldest blood brother who has a daughter  
Mar'lene—the married one   
Mar'ilyn—has the bad English and has a a hundred individual braids in her head  
Mar'chen—Mar'eyna's youngest older blood brother. Doesn't show up until later. 

After a video of Mar'eyna dancing on Musical.ly to Lady Gaga inappropriate for the beat and tempo(and some solid step dancing) went viral, she began to wear sunglasses and a blonde wig outside. It wasn't out of humiliation—she was quite the hit—, but due to everyone knowing that Astruma owned a pair of cheetah print loose pajama pants. And that she was stationed somewhere in Metropolis, as the video was recorded in front of the glass wall of her father's pent house, exposing the scenery and landmarks. She was scolded, and for once, she could accept that she had it coming. Her identity isn't the only one at risk when it came to how close some crazy fans got to finding her exact address. Clark made her delete her Triller and Musical.ly and temporarily deactivate her Instagram. She agreed only because, again, she saw what she did wrong.   
The wig couldn't even really be considered blonde. It was yellow. Like a highlighter. She couldn't remember where exactly she stole it from.   
The colour of her hair was the least of her problems.   
Jumping into action was twice as tedious. She wasn't Flash where she could change her outfit in less than a second, or like her father who was fine with ripping all his good shirts to get access to his blue spandex. She had to duck into the nearest alley and throw her wig and shades into her portal. It wasn't much, but when it came to threats, every second was precious, and she couldn't be wasting it on changing from Mary Kent into Astruma. Her usual shift was from the unknown Mar'eyna into Astruma.   
Who on the Team didn't have the video screen recorded or downloaded? Honestly. She didn't mind the attention, but she wanted her fame to die down with the rise of a new trend. 

Back on Lunaria, a week later, Mar'eyna stood on the surface, preparing for her teleporting to the core where her home was. She always had the idea to move the American flag a little to the left whenever se came, just to tip NASA or any new astronauts coming there off.   
Her brothers and sisters were expecting her visit, along with Miss Martian and Superboy, the only people on the original Team who could come without too much equipment.   
Mar'eyna's father had two wives: he killed one for adultery and her daughter, leaving him with his legitimate son from her. She was his only Lunarian wife. Then Mar'eyna's mother had the majority of his children afterwards. She was Atlantean, brought to the moon as a bartering item due to her father being in serious debt to Mar'eyna's paternal grandfather. Despite getting forcefully married at twelve and having their first child at fifteen, Mar'eyna's parents ended up having a healthy, successful marriage.   
That was even after he cheated. A hypocrite, in all seriousness. Her father had a daughter with a human about ten years ago. Her mother died during child birth, and out of pity only, he took his daughter in. Mar'kus isn't a jerk, he just prefers to care for his children that he had in wedlock over the bastards he made.  
   The ten year old girl, Mar'sha, was suffering. She had to be put down, as Mar'kus couldn't take anymore responsibility for a "brain dead waste of space." In reality, Mar'sha wasn't in any form of a coma. But with her being human and Lunarian, her genes did not play on her favour.   
   She was stupid. She was a menace.   
   And she didn't know how to control her gifts blessed to her from her Lunarian blood.   
   Mar'eyna had never met her half sister. And that would make her job only easier.   
Mar'eyna's half brother—we'll call him Junior to avoid any confusion with him and his father—showed Miss Martian around without Mar'eyna or Superboy's company. Junior had taken quite the liking for M'gann, despite knowing her for not even an hour. He likes his girls foreign. His wife herself was a Martian. M'gann pretended to be naive to his advances. Mar'eyna had to hold back Superboy on at least four occasions.   
Now seated in the all white living room that resembled something from a Progressive commercial, Mar'eyna explained their reason for being on the Moon instead of enjoying their Friday. Superboy had crushed the china cup and saucer his tea was served in. Mar'eyna pursed her lips as it was the fourth cup in a span of five minutes. Junior didn't seem to mind having to keep retrieving cups. It distracted him from the events about to take place in the Koran's personal little battlefield. Every typical Lunarian had one in their backyard.   
The rest of her siblings were gathered ok the living room as well. The girls were latched on to Superboy's buff arms or twirling their hair. He had the faintest blush when her oldest sister wiped his lap of the tea he spilled on himself. Good grief, Mar'eyna thought.   
"Wow! I want to marry an Earthling when I get older.”  
"His blue eyes are so dreamy.” Mar'ilyn batted her eyelashes as she traced her finger along Conner's muscles.   
"Contribute something or get out of the living space.”Mar'eyna almost shouted. She had been irritated since she walked inside her house. For no reason in particular besides her being a little impatient and wanting to get back to Earth ASAP.   
"Why don't you shut up and let the adults discuss?” Mar'lene taunted. Mar'eyna was the youngest in the room by default. But that didn't mean she didn't get to throw in her two cents.   
"Why don't I get your husband up here and let him see you eye fucking my teammate?”  
"You don't scare me, Mar'eyna.”  
The sisters all gave each other dirty looks before returning to the subject at hand. Mar'eyna discreetly gave Mar'lene her middle finger as she raised her glasses up off the bridge of her nose.   
"Y'all understand why we're here, right?" Mar'eyna asked the foreigners. M'gann and Conner nodded their heads solemnly as the tension in the room weighed on their shoulders. "Recap for the retards present. Daddy said that Mar'sha's been here longer she was supposed to be. She may not show it, but she's struggling daily. Like how a person with AIDS acts. Today, we put that bastard out of her misery. For her own good."  
"For her own good." Junior mumbled while he finally sat down after getting Superboy a plastic cup as the other siblings repeated in unison.   
"We just think we're gonna need back up. She may look all frail and brittle, but she almost took down Junior, and he's the strongest, not including our dad. She can't form ice or teleport like the rest of us can. But she doesn't need a source for her hydrokinesis, and there aren't any limits to it. Mar'sha almost knocked Mar'Chen out, from what I heard."  
"Don't ever let your guard down. And never feel guilty for beating her. She's gonna get up at least 80% of the time." Mar'lene advised. "Speaking of, do you need some armour or more protective clothes? Your legs are all out." She pointed to M'gann's legs. "Trust me, you want it. She'll rip those things off."   
   "I think I'll be fine." M'gann put her hand up to reject the offer. "It's really a shame you have to kill your sister. I'm sorry."  
   "She's not our sister." Junior spoke for everyone. "And we don't have to kill her, we could let her suffer for the remainder of her pathetic life."   
   Mar'ilyn shrugged and did the so-so sign with her hand. The killing was debatable, but it was just better to get it out of the way.   
   Mar'lin popped his head into the living room to update them all.   
   "She's in the yard. She thinks we're all about to play hopscotch.”  
   "It's now or later." Mar'lene started dressing herself in her gold and diamond crested armour. She needed the extra protection since she could only use ice and water, no teleportation. Compared to all her siblings besides Junior, Mar'eyna was the whole Lunarian experience put into one.   
   "Let's split up. Half of y'all can go to the coliseum from the front door then go around to the gate. And the other half can go through the patio door." Mar'eyna suggested. "I'm going through the back. Gotta introduce myself. You know how it goes. I'm taking Miss Martian, Superboy, and Marlene." She headed for the back door, with Marlene by her side and Superboy and M'gann behind. Conner got chilly once he stepped outside.   
   And there she was. Poor, little, "suffering" Marsha. Little? sure. Suffering? Conner used his X-Ray vision. The girl's body through the thermal vision was all blue; darkest as a thick outlining and gradually getting lighter in hue. But the colour red around her heart didn't blend in with the blues as it was just there. He concluded something was actually wrong with her; even the other Lunarians he scanned didn't have such a void of blues.   
Marsha was sitting in a meditative position and she was looking up. A cloud, most likely her doing, floated above her head and precipitated snow. It built up around her and on her lap. She heard footsteps and clicking heels come up from behind her, and she gave herself whiplash turning to see.   
Mar'eyna's change of heart did a three sixty. Marsha was precious, a little angel. She reminded Mar'eyna of herself when she was younger. Her hair stretched out behind her for a decent three feet. Mar'eyna had never seen a Lunarian with visible pupils until that day. Marsha stared at the group of four and awkwardly curled her lips.   
"Marlene? Who are these specimens?” her blue eyes darted from Mar'eyna to the sister she was familiar with.   
Mar'eyna walked up to her half sister and looked down at her.   
"Haven't we met?”  
"If we did, I wouldn't have asked who you were.”  
"Feisty little fucker, huh?" Mar'eyna sat down in the snow next to the little girl. She wished that she wore shorts or an extra pair of leggings under her bottoms. She removed her glasses and put them in her portal for safe keeping. "I'm our dad's daughter, Mar'eyna. I've been on Earth for my upbringing. Here, I brought you something from there.” Mar'eyna went in her bra and pulled out full sized packages of M&Ms and Twizzlers. "Earth sweets. I thought you might like them. Chocolate calms the nerves.” she handed the candy to Marsha, whose eyes were sparkling with tears.   
"Father said the day I receive gifts is going to be the day my face is wiped from the moon's craters.” her voice remained steady as the waterworks began.   
"He told me you'd say that. That's why I have my friends here with me so they can assist, just in case.”  
Marsha grabbed Mar'eyna's shirt and bawled into it. Mar'eyna stroked her father's daughter's long, beautiful off white hair. She couldn't imagine the level of fear Marsha was feeling even if she added all her traumatic experiences into one. The pity vanished quickly.   
"Big sister, please! I'll do anything for another month! A week! Don't have our first meeting be our last. I will do anything you want.”  
"Anything?”  
Marlene took a step closer to the two and saw the rest of her siblings gathered ten feet away around the corner peeking over to the scene. They all made eye contact and mouthed questions like if they should go in now or wait.   
"Consider it pay back for the Earth sweets. Anything for you, Mar'eyna. Big sister, be the one who loves me.”  
Marlene squatted down to get on their level. Marsha was now clutching at her own heart and shaking almost unnoticed. Marlene hugged her briefly before getting up and going back over to Miss Martian and Superboy, who felt their presence wasn't fit for the circumstances.   
"Eat your chocolate, Marsha. Calm your nerves.”  
"I want to see you again. Don't let this be our last time, Mar'eyna. I'll do anything.”   
"Then make our job easier.”  
"Our?”  
Mar'eyna put her hands out in front of her and her palms faced up. There, she manipulated the snow around her into ice, and that ice into a long dagger. Marsha's gaze went down into her sister's hands. She shook her head before scratching at her hair stressfully.   
"I ca—“  
"Damn it, girl! We all have better things to do than have a death battle with you. Just do it yourself. Junior probably would rather be fucking his wife than be hiding and waiting to attack. And Superboy and Miss Martian could be on Earth right now on a date or something."  
Junior and Conner shrugged in their places.   
"You said anything. Did you not?”  
Marsha got up from her seated position, staggering as she stood so abruptly. Mar'eyna decided to stand, too. Dagger still in hand.   
"Come on. Make Daddy's life easier.”Mar'eyna put her hand on Marsha's shoulder.   
Marsha shook her head.   
"No?” Mar'eyna scrunched her nose. "Who raised you to be so selfish?” She flipped the dagger around in her hand in the position that it would be ready to stab. "You know what? Y'all, y'all can all go home. Imma do this myself. M'gann, sorry I dragged you here. This isn't that deep. I can put your outta your misery in like, a minute.”  
   "You have no idea what she could have up her sleeve.” Marlene got behind Mar'eyna. "I think we should stay.”  
   "Then leave Mar'kus. He's stronger than the rest of us. No offense. Just chill for the rest of the day. We'll congregate in half an hour. Take my teammates inside.”  
   Without debate, Marlene shooed her guests inside and the rest of her siblings went inside besides Junior and Mar'eyna. She closed the blinds and curtains for the glass door. Mar'ilyn was already trotting up the staircase to watch from above.


	22. 20.5

   "Don't you dare come near me with that knife." Marsha got into an offensive stance, ready for anything.   
   "Or else what, little girl? You gonna have a seizure and start foaming at the mouth? You brain dead fuck! Try something. Try and stop me, hoe." Mar'eyna flinched forward at her as a threat.   
   The three of them were at a standoff, waiting for each other to launch themselves first. No one budged for two minutes, Marsha still in her position and Mar'eyna still with the dagger in her hand. Two pairs of white, pupilless eyes were locked with a pair of blue ones. Marsha's glare darted between both of them. Her guard remained up.   
   Mar'sha—my bad for not spelling her name with the appropriate apostrophe the whole time; it's time consuming—was special in more negative ways than positive. Her only blessing was obtaining all the Lunarian abilities along with the rarity of the Lightning gene. Only her and her half siblings' alive and great grandparents had that ability in the family. Maybe a hundred in ten million Lunarians got it, so it wasn't that much of a sighting.   
   The Lightning gene—if you didn't draw your own conclusions—granted the user all access to control lighting. The user can control it from a source. The limitations are that it has to come from the sky, it can't be from a fried circuit or from an outlet. And to control it, there has to be a rain storm with lightning, thunder optional.   
   Mar'eyna and Junior had the upper hand. On Lunaria, it didn't rain, it didn't thunder, and it sure didn't have naturally occurring lightning strikes.   
   But Marsha knew this. They knew that she knew.   
   But Marsha didn't know that they knew that she knew.   
   Her plan was simple: teleport anywhere in the galaxy were it was currently pouring and finish them off with a large shock. Not a bad idea for a clinically retarded ten year old.   
   Junior had a counter-plan for her plan. Mar'eyna had a back up plan for Junior's plan incase it fell through.   
   Her dagger was melting. That's how much longer they stood off. At that point, Mar'kus Sr. came outside with his wife—Mar'eyna's mother—to spectate.   
   Mar'eyna and Junior hasn't noticed their company until Mar'ania told them to "Get on with it!"  
   Junior attacked first with a flash wave, twenty feet tall and powerful, sending Marsha through the neighbor's fence that was fifty feet away. The two of them advanced through their portals and began to demobilize the girl mercilessly. Marsha remained with all her limbs and her head from the pressure of the water. She teleported before the water cleared out. She popped out of her blue portal to behind Mar'eyna and attempted to choke her. Her baby hands didn't make it fully around Mar'eyna neck, and frankly, Mar'eyna was ticklish. Marsha used her nails as her next resort.   
   "Oowwwaagh!" Mar'eyna cried out. She grabbed Marsha's hands and flipped her over her head and slammed her on the ground. Then she grabbed her foot and began to swing her around, using her speed burst for the maximum time as she spun. Marsha began to vomit after being spun at such speed. It wasn't much besides the water that was shoved down her throat from Junior's attempt to drown her.   
   Junior grabbed Marsha by the hands and pulled while Mar'eyna pulled on her legs. They froze her from their side up; their slighting different in hue ice met in the middle. They went into their portals and tore Marsha apart. Her upper body lay in southern Denmark of all places Junior could've gone and her lower body was over on the surface of Mars.   
   The ice was hollow. Marsha's body was split in two when Junior and Mar'eyna melted it. Light years away, they felt each other's panic. They met back in their little home arena. Marsha was levitating in a meditative seating position. She had a decent amount of harmless bruises and tiny cuts from being slammed on the gravelly ground.   
Mar'eyna conjured up a decent ice javelin and got in the chucking form, a little something she learned from her days in track and field along with how to vault. A terrible mistake, as she confused the two events. She ran with the javelin like she was going a sixty meter dash and then stuck it in the ground and launched herself upwards. The javelin, being crafted of ice, shattered at the contact with the ground and with Mar'eyna's weight. Fortunately, she still was able to get her hands on Marsha. She knocked her out of the air and dragged her down with her falling. Junior formed ice spikes along the ground and Mar'eyna switched her and Marsha's positions so Marsha would hit the ground first. Junior used his speed burst to snatch up Mar'eyna before she touched the spikes.   
"I got you." He mumbled. He set her on her feet as they waited to see if Marsha's body would move. And with plentiful twitches, Marsha pulled herself up. She hasn't sunk down into the spikes. In lamer terms, she was not impaled. Consider her as an Indian on a bed of nails. Was that racist?   
"Why the hell does she keep getting up?" Mar'eyna sucked her teeth.   
"Because we haven't hit her weak spot."  
"And you've known about it how long? This could've been finished yesterday."  
"We gotta get her head."  
"Like decapitate?"  
"Enough teleporting and water attacks. Let's just use ice for the remainder of this."   
"Then come on. I'm getting chilly out here. I wanna go inside."  
"Do you need my cloak?"  
Wasting valuable time and setting up an ice wall to stop the petty huge snowballs with rocks mixed in, Mar'eyna accepted his cloak. It was weighing, most definitely from the excessive use of virgin wool. It was long, a tripping hazard was obvious. She didn't put the hood on or close it up.   
Junior flew up and began flinging icicles   
from his fingertips. Mar'eyna lowered her wall by breaking it off into large projectiles to launch at Marsha, whose new strategy was taking control of her opponents' ice and turning it on them. It was way more effective than she presumed. Junior got grabbed and squeezed by the giant water hand Marsha made. Then he was shaken with vigor. Mar'eyna went for the source instead of the hand itself. She made another javelin and made sure she didn't mix it up. Her implement wasn't thrown that high or with much power since Marsha wasn't that far from her. Marsha saw from the corner of her eye and turned it around on Mar'eyna. It went clean through her, leaving an inch wide hole in her abdomen and back. She clutched the injured area as she got on her knees, then collapsed on her side.   
Junior noticed Mar'eyna on the ground only because Marsha was staring in that direction for a while. His heart dropped at the sight. The blood was visible. Mar'ania and Mar'kus has gone back inside a few minutes ago, so there was no one to tend to her including the still captive Junior. He teleported out of the grasp and used his sped burst while spinning to drill right through Marsha's core. The whole was gaping. A hundred times more gorey than Mar'eyna's wound. His white hair was dyed with her blood and little chunks of entrails. Marsha was twitching with her arm up in the air like she was reaching for her spirit to put back in her body. Junior teleported to her location and stood over her head. He made a dagger; a replica of the one Mar'eyna created despite him never seeing it. He squatted down and drove te dagger deep into her neck and twisted it. He dragged it side to side back and forth until he felt the ground scraping at the dagger, showing that her head was severed. He picked it up and froze it. It was then slammed on the ground. Marsha's only remains were her body and the hair that was separated from the rest when her head was cut. He rushed over to his sister and rolled her off her side to see the damage. It was nothing compared to Marsha, but it was still very serious. Oh, the conversations he was about to encounter.   
He looked up at the home and saw the watching Marlene. Her upper body was out the window while she cried. She had almost jumped out the window to retrieve Mar'eyna when she was struggling to keep her balance, but was too full of grief to move after seeing the wound from above.   
Junior picked Mar'eyna up in his arms and flew up to Marlene's window. Marlene grabbed Mar'eyna's face, shook her body, and pinched her nostrils together; all to see if she was alive.   
"Lena, don't cry. Take her to the infirmary. She's breathing. Gather father and mom."   
Marlene wiped her reddened face with her shirt. She managed to get out, over the hiccups and wailing, "Where are you going?!"  
"You know if I leave her in the cold for more than ten minutes, she'll regenerate."  
"Where are you taking her?!" She called after him as he floated back to the ground to retrieve the corpse.   
"Anywhere but here!" Junior answered. He adjusted his glasses and walked over to what was left of Mar'sha. He picked her up the same way he did with Mar'eyna and stepped into his navy blue portal. 

Mar'eyna responded to the house maids' stuffing her hole with cotton balls with a swift jerk. The Koran's personal doctor was in the hospital himself from Mar'sha's recent and final check up.   
"Watch it, would you? Y'all didn't even dampen them with alcohol." She started picking the cotton out of her navel wound with disgust. They came out easier than they went in so to speak. "Stupid maids. Can't do anything besides sweep."  
The two maids in the room glanced at each other before dipping the cotton balls in hydrogen peroxide before inserting them back into Mar'eyna, who only winched at the contact from the cool liquid burning her wound.   
Mar'ilyn took Superboy and Miss Martian back to Earth an hour ago. From Mar'sha's death on, it wasn't exactly a scene for guests.   
Junior hovered way above Venus. There was no weather in space. From where he was, his body temperature was fine to him. He held out Marsha in front of him with his arms extended. With estimated calculations, he guessed that she'd land right on the planet. We're going to ignore the whole "no gravity" in space thing so she can fall.   
So he dropped her and didn't even bother to stick around to see her land. 

Mar'eyna was being babied by her mother and sisters over her injuries and Junior was pulled aside by his father into his office.   
Mar'kus sat slouched in his leather chair with the thick armrests. He sighed loudly to express his discomfort. Junior refused to speak first. Mar'kus shook his head whilst making eye contact with his son. Junior's eyes dashed all around the room from the law books to the white kitten sleeping near the fireplace across the room.   
"Mar'kus." Mar'kus Sr. began.   
"Yes?"  
There was a long pause.   
"Don't feel bad about any of this."  
"Why would I? She hurt my sister. No thought about it."  
"Then what's on your mind? Since you're not thinking about Mar'sha."  
Junior shrugged. "I don't know, Dad. You tell me this: what was really wrong with her?"  
Mar'kus shrugged back with more attitude.   
"She's was too strong. Even as a half human." Junior concluded. "Were you scared? Threatened?"  
"By a little girl? Any child I bring into this world, I can take out of it. If I wasn't busy earlier, I would've taken care of it myself."  
"What were you so busy with?"  
Mar'kus leaned back more and narrowed his white eyes as if to send the message that Junior was in no place to ever question him with such a tone. He responded regardless.   
"I was making a replacement with my wife. If you understand what that means. Married to that Martian for six years and there isn't a baby crawling around this very carpet."  
Junior's eyes rolled and his ears burned up from the embarrassment. It wasn't like he and his wife didn't try.   
"Mar'sha's dead because her organs weren't functioning correctly. Her stomach had no linings and her brain was expanding. Somehow, her small intestine was wrapping around the large one. It was for her own good. I cared enough for her to not let her suffer. It was a miracle she lived for so long."  
Junior scoffed. "Maybe if you'd stop putting your dick in places they shouldn't be, the Koran's pods wouldn't be occupied by defective failed abortions!"  
"Hey now. Your sister was the same way."  
"Don't go there! Heartless vulture!" Junior got up and attempted to sock his father across the face. Mar'kus smacked him before he could feel the wind of his son's fist. Junior was knocked to the ground. His cheek stung horribly. He knew right before he tried to attack his father that he was in the wrong.  
   "Now get the hell out of my office. But send Mar'lin in.”


	23. 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mar’eyna and Daniel move forward.

Finally I can get to the lighter stuff. Jeez.   
2017  
Mar'eyna took the liberty to go get a costume altercation to hide the the wrapped bandages around her stomach. No one knew what happened with Marsha besides M'gann, Conner, and Clark. Mark'kus had to deliver the news to Superman himself, but he made sure to include that everything with her was okay. Her near death experience was behind her as it was time for the second part of her life to take over.   
   College.   
   Something she held off for years. Remember her postponing her own high school graduation just so she could enjoy being a cheerleader for longer. She didn't go straight to college right after she finally graduated because she and Daniel began dating. Her ultimate sacrifice to him was waiting for him to catch up with her so they could go to university together. They applied for all the same colleges and the three they both got accepted to was Drexel, Rutgers, and Pittsburgh. Daniel got accepted to the school of Mar'eyna's dreams and that formed a grudge from her. It was petty, she knew. But she couldn't bring herself to be happy for him. In time, she got over it and apologized for being selfish.   
   That took a year.   
   So now Daniel and Mar'eyna were ready to head off. They agreed to both go to Drexel: Daniel for the medical programs and Mar'eyna for the law ones.   
   Mar'eyna was helping him pack up from home. He had about ten large boxes worth of belongs not including his clothes and bed. The room was empty besides the carpet and his and Ethan's bed which he left behind. He moved in with his girlfriend in Pittsburgh while they attended university there.   
   Daniel considered getting a dorm. But he didn't earn a scholarship or anything special and he was going for that eight year course. And money only stretched so far between him and Ethan. He decided it was better to rent an apartment throughout his education and live under his own rules than have to turn in at eight with an assigned roommate.   
   Mar'eyna didn't have to leave home necessarily. She could teleport back and forth of campus and that was her plan. Though, unbeknownst to her, Clark and Daniel had a private chat revolving around her.   
   It took a lot of convincing for Clark to hand over his daughter like that when the time came. Mar'eyna truly was safer in Metropolis. And Philadelphia...good ol' Philly. Not the place you want your first kid to move. With her boyfriend no less. But to seal the deal, Daniel gave him a tour of his unfurnished place to show him the neighborhood. For a student who made his money from his shifts at a sneaker store and a Five Guys, the place wasn't bad; fairly sized, two bedrooms, one bath. The kitchen was a little small but the living space compensated. Clark was impressed, and suggested that Daniel should paint over the yellow walls of the living room with a light green or beige.   
   And that was a month ago. It was summer, just the start of. And the move was coming to an end. His apartment was now full of furniture and it only needed his bed, clothes, boxes of Knick knacks, and Mar'eyna to make it feel like home. He was going to ask her to move in with him over lunch. Not the most romantic meal of the day, but it wasn't worth waiting for the sun to set.   
   Mar'eyna taped up the final box and then teleported it into Danny's UHaul. He was in the back straightening things up so they wouldn't move around too much while he drove.   
   "Wouldn't it just be easier for me to just take all your stuff to your place? It'd be quicker, too." Mar'eyna sat on the step of the truck. Her hair was down despite the heat and she was fully clad in long sleeves. Like an albino in the desert.   
   "Moving is a man's job, babe. You know how it is." He sat down in his beanbag and used his finger to signal her over. She went inside and sat across from him on a footstool. It was hot enough as it was and being anywhere near him would've maw or worse.   
   "So when are you leaving? Like, getting on the road?"  
   "Few hours. It's only ten." He answered. He had his reading glasses on today and his hair gel done sweated out. Mar'eyna just wanted to squish his cheeks. He looked all handsome and such. "Why don't you sit over here? I bite, but you already know that."  
   Mar'eyna contained a smile hearing that. Oh how far they've gone. Good times.   
   Let me rephrase. They didn't get THAT far, okay. Sicko. Ever heard of a damn hickey? Sheesh.   
   "You'll add a thousand degrees to me. I'm already on the verge of fainting." She leaned forward in her seat and he did the same.   
   "Because you're overdressed. You're even wearing socks." Daniel reached out and tugged on the love sleeve of her teal tunic. "I have some unpacked shorts and shirts if you wanna cool down. All girls look hot in their boyfriend's clothes."  
   "I'll take up that offer. Give me a minute."   
   And she hopped out of the truck and headed inside. Daniel watched her until she shut the front door. He licked his lips. Those jeans hugged all the right places. Probably from OldNavy.   
   Daniel had been working out vigorously since the winter time as part of his resolution. It was paying off immensely. His shoulders popped, his biceps were almost in comparison to Superman's—not really, BUT CLOSE—, and his pecs bulged our of his shirt. And Mar'eyna took it all in. They got freaky in April as part of their anniversary; nothing over PG-13. And she ended up licking his abs to show her appreciation of his dedication to his regimen.   
   As it crossed his mind, Daniel saw in his peripheral his father walking up. It was just to tell him that his mom wanted him inside for some refreshments. Of course.   
   When the men walked in, Mar'eyna was changed into one of Danny's tie dyed shirts from summer camp and shorts she left there.  No, it's not what you're thinking. Daniel actually took them from her room as compensation for her stealing his sweat pants.   
   "Whoa! Where are your pants?" Daniel covered his innocent eyes.   
   "What are you talking about?" Mar'eyna put her hands on her hips.   
   He looked through his fingers.   
   "They're right here." She lifted up the shirt to show her black daisy dukes as Daniel gasped at the suddenness, just to relax just as quickly.   
   "Don't scare me like that."  
   She mumbled to herself and drank from her cup with the pink straw. 

   Mar'eyna headed back to her home shortly after just to be texted twenty minutes later to dress nice and meet her boyfriend at a specific address. Yes, because that's exactly how her teleportation works. No, dumb Daniel. She has to know the place or see it in person before all that. Fool. 

   "I'll ask."  
   "Already did."  
   "Do you always y'all to my dad before making big decisions in our relationship?"  
   "As any gentleman should."  
   Mar'eyna cut into her chicken tenders like a fancy five year old. Her smile was from ear to ear as Daniel told her what he wanted to do and where he wanted to take them in their relationship. Yeah, moving in together was something simple; she wasn't focused on all that. Don't get her wrong, she was just ecstatic. But it was nothing compared to hearing Daniel telling her where their future would be. And he was so confident at that. All that talk made her want to just pounce on him. She rested her chin in her hands as she listened to him more, admiring his regelled hair and his glasses. He slowed down his rambling as he got into five year anniversary territory, wanting to leave a little suspense.  
   "To think we're here now because we couldn't stand each other." Daniel fed her her fries, knowing better than to dip them in ketchup. She shrugged and wrapped her tongue around it. Then put it in her mouth with a swift suck. Like a frog catching a fly, but more inappropriate than it had to be.   
   "Well, you should thank me for getting you wet back in '06."  
   "It was 2009, babe.” Daniel corrected as he fed her more.   
   "I'm gonna have to check my records." Mar'eyna smirked, confident that she was correct. She was willing to bet. But Daniel wasn’t the gambling type. Or the best loser.   
“Wanna try some of my milkshake? It’s vanilla?” Daniel offered. It didn’t sit well with his meal of baby back ribs and steak cut fries and a biscuit. He felt heavy.   
“Perfect! Just the way I like my men.” She grabbed the glass, reaching over her own plate. She sipped the thick beverage like it was dense as water. Daniel watched, intrigued, and he just picked up on her little slick comment. That girl. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want it back?” She asked after drinking eighty percent.   
“Nah, you finish up. Imma go get the check and a to go box. You need one?”  
“No. Imma steal the plate. I like it.”  
“You know, I actually think you’re serious this time.” Daniel threw in his two cents before going to the cashier. He saw in the corner of his eye—as their table was adjacent to the register—Mar’eyna pour her leftovers into her dangerously visible portal then throw the plate in with it all. That girl. He came back with his styrofoam container and shook his head as her.   
“You know better.” He mouthed. Mar’eyna rolled her eyes. She had in her brown contacts and a new, less attention grabbing, brown, tightly curled wig. The length was still to her lower back though. Pure, virgin, Brazilian. He exhaled through his large, Roman nose. Mar’eyna smirked as she bit the straw of what was now her milkshake. She likes to taunt Daniel knowing he wasn’t going to do anything. 

They sat on the few steps before the front door, making out like the children on the block weren’t trying to enjoy their summer break. A couple parents told them to show some decency while their sons exclaimed “Ew!” And the daughters said “Aww!” Mar’eyna had that thin, freezing layer of ice on her lips again and Daniel controlled his body heat along with his other heat. Maybe it was time to head inside and upstairs. His gloved hand went up her shirt, shockingly to be stopped.   
“How about we wait until I move in with you? It’ll be more special.” Mar’eyna leaned into his ear. “And it’ll feel better.” She stressed. Ironically, Danny got a cold shiver down his spine and he gasped quietly, moved and excited.   
“Okay.” Was all he could say for now. “I’m gonna hit the road. I wanna have everything ready for you by the end of the week.”   
“Aren’t you gonna say bye to your parents?”  
“It’s a two hour ride and back. They’ll see me around five-ish. They know I’m leaving and coming back.”   
“Can I come with you? In the truck?”   
“There’s no radio or aux.”   
“I’ll see you at five then, baby. I’m gonna stay here and help your mom.” Mar’eyna smooched his cheek, forgetting that she melted her icy lips. She sucked in air like she kissed a fresh out of the oven baked potato.   
He checked his pockets for the keys then kissed her gloved hand. “My chariot awaits.”


	24. Chapter 22

Decided to make this less like a romance novel and turn it back to its original superhero bull. Okay seriously, ignore my ignorance to my own continuity I barely go back and read my chapters to gather info on my own story. Really unprofessional but a young bull only has so much time on her hands. 

The Cave was a drag after Artemis died. M'gann was acting like it was her own child and her Martian Tears were drenching Mar'eyna's thin top. She held back her sound of disgust. Martian tears were very...sticky. You wouldn't wanna be her in that situation. Her grief wasn't as strong as anyone else's in the room, maybe besides the fresh meat, Impulse and Jaime.   
Members of the League came through and shared their condolences while members of the Team went down to the grotto in small groups to see Artemis's holographic statue. Daniel went down there with Mar'eyna alone. He put his arm around her to console. She didn't need it. She considered her a friend and all, but they fell off five months after they met. No hard feelings since there were none.   
"I didn't think Kaldur'ahm would do this." Daniel broke the much needed silence. "A shame. I feel for Wally."  
"I think he was set up. You know how they want all black men locked up." Daniel could tell she was serious with that statement. He guessed she just threw his Atlantean roots out the window.   
"I remember I had a crush on her. I liked blondes back then."  
"That's all you can remember her by?"  
"I mean, she shot me in the leg once. With those suction tip arrows. Then with a real one the next day."  
"Do you feel like we're closer together than we are with the Team?" Mar'eyna popped open a bag of Skittles.   
"Yeah. I feel like that sometimes. But there are a lot of little subgroups of buddies. So it's alright. Are you sharing?"  
Mar'eyna poured some Skittles into his free hand.   
"Like, aren't we in a subgroup with Jaime?" He finished.   
"Yeah. But that's mostly you two. I'm mostly with what's her name and Karen." She snapped her fingers. "M'gann."

They headed back up into the cave where some of Artemis's non heroic lineage showed their face, along with Wally's parents. How'd they even get in? People began breaking off and going outside. Wally and Dick excused themselves and headed elsewhere. Mar'eyna and Daniel decided it was time to go.  
Mar'eyna meditated in her room, for the first time in her damn life despite it being a common activity among Lunarians. It was sort of their way of praying or worshipping. She prays occasionally, just not in that way. Her hands were folded on her chest and she floated with her legs in crisscross applesauce. I don't know what that specific pose is actually called.   
She prayed to God for the full abilities of a Lunarian. Her encounter with Marsha left a nasty scar on her ego and navel. Never had she come so close to a devastating defeat like that. Ever! She could only blame her mother for passing those restrictive Atlantean genes, not allowing her access to snow making and controlling and an infinite reach with water. Mar'eyna started to think that if she had those powers, she could've killed Marsha instead of Junior. It's embarrassing to have someone have to step into your fight and win it for you.   
"And, if you can, give me the car I asked for a year ago. But I want it to be black. It'll look nice and sleek. I don't ask for much, God. Since I'm here and you're listening, please consider yourself lucky that I remembered you and give me what I want as compensation. Also, send a message to Daniel in his sleep, telling him to get rid of that weak peach fuzz. He won't listen to me. Ameen." she wrapped it up with a trace of her incense in the air, making a crescent shape. "Oh, and grant Artemis heaven. She was a bitch sometimes, but I liked having her in my ETBFFWTEOOH. I don't remember if that was the acronym, but you get the idea. Ameen." She made another crescent.  
   Mar'eyna floated gracefully back to the ground. She was alone in Daniel's nice apartment with twine and folded up boxes. Daniel was driving to Metropolis to pick up all her belongings. The place wasn't organized in the slightest, even with most of the stuff unpacked. Mar'eyna hated messes. She tore a black trash bag that hadn't been properly closed out of anger with tears in her eyes. Like that one girl who couldn't look at the minion doll. She regained her composure and grabbed a broom after sitting down on the love seat and counting to ten fifty times and tapping her foot aggressively.   
An hour had been well spent and the apartment could finally be walked around without the bottoms of your feet turning black. Mar'eyna was finally content. She didn't care if the furniture and little Knick knacks weren't where Daniel wanted them. Everything was neat and tidy. She even changed the already washed sheets with even fresher ones. Just as she sat on the hardwood, she heard the door unlocking. Mar'eyna hopped up and ran over like a dog waiting for its owner to walk through the threshold.   
It opened.   
Mar'eyna backed up into the coat rack, confused as to what she was seeing. As it became clear, she turned and tried to run, only getting grabbed by the waist and yanked. She latched on the door knob as it was the only thing she could grab. The door shut with her pulling on it. Her waist was still captive. Her hands were eventually pried off and she was knocked out with the brute force of Black Beetle. An inhibitor collar was placed around her neck.   
Half conscious, her vision was red tinted. She was in a pod along with more of the Team. She shifted back into her sleep.   
Daniel stood at the teal door of his top floor apartment with two brown bags from Whole Foods. Just some platters from the hot bar, assuming Mar'eyna was hungry since he was. He walked in and kicked off his sneakers. He was overwhelmed by the condition of his place: it was perfect. To a tee. He set down the bags on the TV stand since the table wasn't assembled, probably because Mar'eyna rage quit on it. He called her name.   
"Mary?" He walked down the narrow hall. All the doors were open besides the hallway closet. She was nowhere. And all of her clothes were in the truck. Daniel noticed the only pair of shoes she had in the apartment were at the foot of their undetermined bedroom. She wouldn't go anywhere without shoes. Who would? Besides a hippie. He called for her again, with more concern for her whereabouts. Maybe she was hiding in a box? To surprise him of course. She was silly like that.   
But all the boxes were folded and twined together, ready to be taken to the dumpster behind the building. And this was when Daniel began to panic.   
"Her cell!" He yelled. "Lord, I gotta call Nightwing." He searched around do his communicator, just to remember it was in his ear already. Daniel turned it on. "Is anyone there? Hello?" He wiped his forehead. Noticing the knocked over coat rack, he said: "I think Mar'eyna got swiped up. She left her phone. A-and her heels. Is anyone there? Over."  
Nobody was responding.   
"Sheesh!" Daniel went into his drawers and yanked out his costume. He changed with haste and rushed to the nearest boom tube. He put on his mask and laced his boots before stepping in.   
"Danny Blaze: B-1-0" I don't know who occupies that designation, but they're moving down a slot.   
"Nightwing! Damn it dude. Does your communicator not work? I've been trying to reach you. Mar'eyna's missing! She left everything behind and she's not home."  
"Maybe she got cold feet." Nightwing joked, trying to shine light on his own current situation.   
"Not funny. My girlfriend got snatched!"   
"Maybe This all connects." Dick said to himself. "I can't get a hold of any squad either. They went on a mission to release some of the Reach's civilian captives. I haven't gotten an update."   
Daniel jumped on his back and tackled him. "Idiot!" He pressed his face into the ground. Duck easily reversed the move. "They all either got caught and are being held, or all their communicators don't work. Aren't you a junior detective? This should've been your first...your first.."  
"Conclusion?"  
"Conclusion!" Daniel pushed Dick away from him. "We gotta find them. Get a location. Who wasn't on the mission?"  
"Only me, Batgirl, and Tim," Nightwing tapped about his holographic computer, pulling up the location of Impulse, who still hadn't excreted that tracker. "Got the location."

   Mar'eyna was in the lab with the people who possibly had the meta gene. She was waking up for good, finally after about of hour. She couldn't see much from her pod besides that Reach woman with the yellow, transparent mask. They exchanged dirty looks with Mar'eyna's glare following her to the door.  All she heard was clicking noises that sounded like mating crickets. She listened for the door shutting.   
   It clicked secure.   
   Mar'eyna shook and kicked in her pod, trying to get out of it or at least knock it over. With the limited space she had, she placed her back up against the anterior padding and then placed her legs up against the red tinted plastic glass mix. She extended her legs out with all her might. Then she pulled back and kicked with full force. The pod began to break, so she repeated a few more times until the entire front fell off. She somersaulted out with style then ran for the door.   
   Mar'eyna pressed the button to the door frantically, almost forgetting her teleportation, and also almost forgetting the inhibitor collar. She cursed to herself as the door separated from the floor as slowly as humanly possible. She crawled under when there was enough space.   
   Impulse had retrieved Jaime at that point. Batgirl was providing offense, fighting off more Reach that were in the other two labs. Daniel and Nightwing were in a room along with the majority of the civilians and Wondergirl. M'gann was on the other side of the door with Beast Boy. Mar'eyna was running, directionless, hoping to see someone familiar.   
   Her prayers were answered when she walked up to M'gann, who was half way through a door. She yanked her leg, not getting a response. And the sounds of thudding against it followed. Beast Boy formed into an rhino and rammed into the metal door, denting it effortlessly. A few more head butts later, the door was down and Mar'eyna could see what was going on inside. She gasped.   
   "You!" She shouted, causing Black Beetle to toss Wondergirl aside and focus on a new target. "You really gonna drag me outta my apartment without my consent or my shoes?I've been running around this bitch barefoot!"  
   "Pity." He responded with a cocky smirk, clearly proud of his number on everyone. He aimed a plasma canon at her and it lit up and loaded. She couldn't have dodged any faster. Her heart was racing, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Nobody on the Team was conscious, not including a barely responsive Miss Martian and a Beast Boy more focused on helping his teammates. And Mar'eyna still didn't have her powers with the collar.   
   Graciously, Impulse and Jaime ran in to the scene. Jaime's first priority was making sure Mar'eyna had protection against Black Beetle. He stepped in her place, and told her to gather everyone and leave.   
   "Just teleport everyone to safety. I got this."  
   "I can't!" She replied from obey where Daniel laid, slowly waking up with a groan. "I have the collar on."  
   "Que mierda," Jaime cussed. He was too busy with Black Beetle. "I'll keep this one occupied. Just find a way out."  
   Mar'eyna dug into Daniel's pockets to get a hold of that handy wrench he always carried in those specific grey pants. It was only there for comical purposes, such as the infamous, “is that a wrench in your pants or are you happy to see me?” skit. She put it around the width of her collar and crushed it thoroughly. She felt her neck for bruises. Mar'eyna opened a portal around the floor of the room, which lead to somewhere, anywhere, with less danger. It didn't consume the aerodynamic Beetles or her as she flew over to Jaime to assist.  
She teleported behind Black Beetle.   
“Nothing personal, kid.” She spoke before shooting him in the back with forceful water. She froze it over and he was frozen to the floor for a brief few seconds before he used a plasma beam to break from the ice.   
Black Beetle retaliated with a large clip, the ones Blue Beetle used to hold down Batgirl that one time I’m sure.   
It hit Mar’eyna in the side before securing her against the wall. It was right around her stomach. She did her best to escape, only to be distracted by a captive she must’ve left behind. She had a half head of orange hair and her hand was placed on a close wall. The wall started to heat up and melt away from her touch.   
Blue and Black were still trying to apprehend each other and Mar’eyna shimmied out of the clip. Just as she was about to fly over to Jaime, water burst through the wall that had melted. It knocked both the Beetles over and Mar’eyna went under skillfully. It didn’t get too high, it was about knee height. So the fight continued.   
The water increased. Fortunately, everyone else was already teleported into a safer area. The Team and extras were congregated there.   
Black built up a canon on his chest that rung while it fired up, and Jaime did the same on a smaller scale. Mar’eyna attempted to hold back the water. The pressure wasn’t affecting her as it might’ve took at toll on Jaime, who was her only concern at the moment. With all the force from his canon, Jaime flew back, bumping Mar’eyna and pushing them both out of the room into the body of water.


	25. Chapter 23

   Mar'eyna swam to the surface with Jaime's arm around her shoulders. He was out like a light and Black Beetle had probably gotten away. But it was all good. They got out without any substantial injuries. Her air filters glowed white once her head emerged from the water. Her hair was flat and slicked to show the shape of her head. She dragged Jaime onto the land. She began pumping his chest just for assurance. His armour was still fully activated and she didn't know where his nose was to pinch it. She resorted to mouth to mouth reluctantly.   
   Her lips brushed his barely. She was close enough to feel the material of his helmet without actually touching. Jaime jerked up and began choking up the water right as they were about to make contact. She looked at the water to give Jaime his privacy. She turned back to him as his noise ceased.   
   "Where are we?" Jaime asked, sounding like he was still recovering.   
   "Away from everyone else." Mar'eyna glanced away as he de-masked. "I can take us back now that you're awake. Can't teleport unresponsive people. That guy must've done a number on you for you to pass out like that." She got ready to stand, but Jaime grabbed her arm.   
   "Let's wait, catch our breath." Jaime laid back, tired. "Are you hurt?"  
   "No. You?"  
   "I have armour. I'm fine."   
   They were silent for a minute while Jaime's eyes rested; he was still up.   
   "What's the rest of the Team gonna think when we just show up? Half an hour after they all headed out?" Jaime questioned.   
   "They'll think: 'Wow, I cant believe Mar'eyna fought off that Reach species nigga, Black Beetle. Oh? Jaime's here too.' And then Daniel will proceed to shower me with love."   
   Jaime tittered at the voice she used: the classic whining Wondergirl.   
   "You were helpful. Gracias."  
   "It's my job as a member of the OG Team. Don't mention it."  
   Jaime looked up at her. She was on her knees with her body up while he now sat with his legs crossed, arms hunched over.   
   "You've got a round head." He commented, snickering.   
   "I'll throw you back into the water." She threatened.   
   "And your ears are kind of pointy." He tugged on one playfully and she smacked his hand. Her filters  flashed pink.   
   "Have you gotten yourself together? Should we go?"  
   "Few more minutes." He laid flat on the ground.   
   Mar'eyna wrung our her shirt and then bent the water off of both of them. Her portal opened underneath them and took them to where everyone was congregated: on the Martian bioship. The Team was battered and bruised moderately. Like wow, way to hold it down. Jeez. Mar'eyna shook her head and tsked. Impulse jumped on Jaime's back. She mouthed "Gay," to Jaime who narrowed his eyes at her and walked off with Impulse on him like a koala. Miss Martian was in another daze with Beast Boy by her side and Superboy watching from a distance. Mar'eyna puffed out air from her mouth, guessing today really put quite the strain on the Team, a bigger strain than she thought. Even Daniel, who was famous for taking the least amount of injuries ever, was doubled over in a chair, clutching his stomach. Wondergirl was rubbing his back and Batgirl was kneeled next to him, trying to see his face and pry his hands away so she could see what was wrong. Mar’eyna should’ve went over to him first instead of judging everyone’s stamina and vulnerability to pain.   
“My poor angel! What happened to you?” Mar’eyna yanked Batgirl by the ponytail out of the way and took her place. She cupped his warm face. “Are you bleeding?”  
Batgirl stood up from where she was dragged and dusted herself.   
“He’s hurt.” She said.   
“Aw jeez, no way. Thanks for telling me,” Mar’eyna looked over her shoulder and retorted with a bitchy tone. “Slut.”   
“I’m fine, babe. Just a bad bruise.” Daniel strained to say. He sat up for the first time since he got on the ship. “That black guy got me good.”  
“The Beetle, right?”   
Daniel’s green eyes went to the left and his ears turned red from embarrassment, realizing what he’d said.   
“That’s what I meant.”   
Karen gave him a look before going back to what she was doing. Mar’eyna flicked a small ball of hail she created at her for giving her man such a glance. She whistled when Karen turned around to see the culprit.   
“Do you want me to teleport you home? I can patch you up.”   
“Sure.” He answered. He clenched his stomach again as another surge of pain overcame him.   
Mar’eyna walked over to Dick and Tim at the control pads. They were discussing new information with the Reach and the captives.   
“I’m taking Daniel home from here.”   
“But we need you for a debriefing.” Tim replied.   
“Was talking to the big boy, little man.” She placed her hand between them on the dashboard and looked his way.   
“We can tackle it tomorrow. Danny Blaze needs rest for now. You can go.”  
“Wasn’t asking for permission either.” Mar’eyna snapped and opened a portal under Daniel, engulfing him earning a shriek from the surprise that got quieter as te distance increased. “I’m kidding with you, Nightwing. But you need to give Robin a little lesson on who he can try and boss around. The younger they learn, the better.”  
Nightwing smirked. “Funny hearing that from you.”  
“Then laugh.” She rolled her eyes and sighed before stepping into a portal on the ground.   
Daniel landed a good foot away from his mattress and was wincing in agony.   
“Damn it Mary! What the hell?!” He cursed as she emerged from the portal in the cieling, floating to the ground next to him. “Work on your aim, woman.”  
“Sorry. Can’t monitor how someone lands.” She helped his heavy body up and led him to the bed, placing him down gently. She started taking off his brown costume coat and his face mask. His tight T-shirt was distracting to her job. It’s dark shade of grey hid any kind of blood that could’ve been under. Daniel sat up and scooted back to put his back on the headboard. Mar’eyna went to get to first aid kit under the sink. She came back ten minutes later in a nurse outfit with the kitten heels and garter socks and bun. Daniel could’ve died within that time if he was seriously injured. His eyes were shut tight as his stomach tightened where his bruise was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to chop off the last couple hundred words because I decided imma let Daniel and Mar’eyna have their private time and not have it documented in this chapter.


	26. XXIV

Mar’eyna jerked awake not a second after the sun set. Daniel peered over his book then went back to the pages.   
“Evening.”  
“Why’re you in here?” Mar’eyna pulled her blanket over her person. Her sleepwear wasn’t the most modest.   
“I like how soft the light in here is. Nice for reading.”   
“We have the same bulbs.” Mar’eyna put her feet off the bed to put her slippers on. She kept the covers in herself as she dragged her feet to the bathroom to get ready for her night shift.   
Her occupation wasn’t anything thrilling, but it had more dignity than flipping burgers. At least to her it was. She tells everyone she was just a cashier at a supermarket. In reality, that didn’t pay much. And with her college student budget and offered rent, Mar’eyna needed as much cash as could get.   
The tiles on the bathroom were a light beige with a darker brown between each tile. She put her foot up on the red, fluffy toilet cover and cut her toenails, chipping the pink paint on them off. She went to the mirror with the lights around the perimeter. Daniel did that himself, said he wanted her to feel like a movie star when she looked in it. It was cute, she guessed, but unnecessary since she never felt less than one. She tossed her blanket into the hamper and stripped down before brushing her teeth and washing her face with her personalized washcloth; the one with her initials stitched with silk; another gift from her beloved.   
She only showers with the hottest water she can possibly get. She read elsewhere that hot water cleans you better. And besides attention, Mar’eyna loves nothing more than being squeaky clean—also going out, but that’s not important.   
Her loofah was the orange one, hanging next to Daniel’s blue one. She used her own soap as Daniel used that Head&Shoulders and Dove for Men crap. Suave was superior.

She stepped into the stranger’s sleek, black, new car, probably just waxed or bought. The interior was a cool grey leather and the steering wheel had a tan leather cover. The backseat was way too spacious for it to be an American car.   
Mar’eyna fastened her seat belt and the stranger took off down a few blocks where the street lights didn’t work or would flicker off regularly. Mar’eyna rolled down the window once they parked. The streets were busy from a block party that probably was going to go on until dawn. The energy was there, and wafting barbecue smell caught in Mar’eyna’s nose. Way too much Old Bay.   
“Can we get started?” The driver unbuckled and leaned the driver seat back all the way.   
Mar’eyna unstrapped herself and climbed on top of the stranger. She pulled a long, red, silky cloth and tied it around their eyes and knitted it behind their head. Then she got a pair of handcuffs and put them on her client’s hands in front of them.   
“I can’t believe I’m doing this! My roommates dared me to hire someone after they found out I’d never been laid.”  
“Sure.” Mar’eyna said as she reached into the cup holder where their wallet was ever so safely secure. She searched through it. There were too many cards to sort from and too many loose one dollar bills to count at the moment. She stuffed it into her pocket. And as quietly as a mouse, she climbed through the open window and ran, grabbing the attention from some partygoers. Her heels could be heard from inside the car, but the stranger wouldn’t figure out those were her noises until after the sound got too far to hear.   
Technically, Mar’eyna was a con-woman for a living, taking submissive men as her victims, tying them up as if she would fulfill their sick fantasies of being whipped and stepped on, then just taking their cash and bolting once they were incapacitated.   
It all came to her when a civilian asked her to spit on them after just being saved. She offered an autograph instead, but definitely saw herself getting business with crazy fans or just vulnerable civilians.   
Weekly, she could come home with an average of seven hundred, maybe eight if she hit up the rich looking cars—that’s how she knew her victim would have real dough. 

Mar’eyna’s face and elbows skidded against the unpaved street before her tumbling was ceased by a parked car. Her cheek burned as the scratches pushed blood out through any slight opening.   
The simulation was finally over. The room returned to its metallic interior from the city hologram.   
The injuries were simulated too, but the pain remained even after. Mar’eyna laid there, conscious, tired. She rolled over onto her back and saw Robin III coming up to her with a stupid grin. He offered a hand. Mar’eyna took it, but made no effort to get up.   
“Still think I need super powers to face you?” Tim teased.   
“The environment was set to your advantage. Mix me on the beach, or at night.” Mar’eyna got up by herself and snatched his bostaff. Her attempt to snap it in half was pathetic. She threw it back at him.   
The metal doors slid open and Mar’eyna made her way over to Daniel who was waiting his turn. She forced up some tears, which wasn’t too hard since her pains were stinging. He was in a high stool so she put herself between his knees and looked up at him with those big ol’ sad eyes.   
“You have to avenge me, baby! I can’t lose to a powerless brat.”  
“Mary, that was your third rematch with him and you’ve come to me each time saying the same thing, with the same look. Robin is just more skilled in hand to hand combat. Nothing to be ashamed of.”  
“So you’re agreeing that I can beat him under any other circumstance where I can use my powers?” Her tears flowed upwards back into her eyes, leaving Daniel puzzled at what he just witnessed.   
“Of course. It’s only natural that the meta humans and aliens are stronger than mere humans with everyday weapons.” Daniel patted her head. Her hair was in a too tight bun, that pulled her eyes outwards a little from the tight hair tie. Daniel liked it when her hair wasn’t in her face, so he gave her a compliment. Mar’eyna kissed him when he leaned down.   
“Maybe if you focused on training instead of running off during practice with Mr. Blaze here, you wouldn’t lose to someone younger than you.” Black Canary commented as she approached the two. Lagaan was close enough to co-sign.   
“Woah, BC, I don’t skip training. Never have.” Daniel defended himself.   
“Then why don’t you demonstrate to Static maneuvers thirty to thirty six? Everyone learned them last week.”  
“Last week...” Daniel recollected.   
“We were totally at that weeklong couple’s class last week.” Mar’eyna whispered to him.   
“Shoot.” He muttered.   
“And you would be able to move around much more if you came in uniform today, Astruma.” Black Canary said. “We never wear jeans, in practice or as part of our costume. There’s no space to move in them.”  
“Okay, no shit. I wasn’t caring about my clothes today. My damn shirt is on backwards. Hop back.” Mar’eyna gave her a mean look as if to dismiss her. Black Canary arched her brow.   
“I think you should come to my office.”   
That made everyone turn to the scene. Another game of guessing: Is Canary being petty or is Mar’eyna tripping again? Sometimes the newer generations place bets.   
“I think you should hop back.” Mar’eyna returned, not even masking the aggression. You know when she’s getting irked because her speech becomes louder and faster.   
“Don’t make a scene here. Everyone, get back to the simulations!”   
“You’re so annoying.” Mar’eyna parted from Daniel. She stepped up to where Canary stood.   
“I think Superman is going to get a call later.”  
“Fuck off. You’re not a principal, and I’m not in school. Go and call him, waste his time.”  
Black Canary walking away first gave Mar’eyna a sense of pride and power. The nerve of that blonde, getting smart with her like that. Green Arrow needs to put her in her place and quickly.


	27. Chapter 25

Mar'eyna wants to be bad for the night. 

 

   Every Lunarian girl had that one week of heat once a year. The pattern was irregular. Mar'eyna began getting hers after she hit puberty. She didn't understand the feeling the first four years. But the rest; She was always able to control her urges, and if they became too strong, she just slept it off and let her dreams run filthy.   
   She had had Daniel for a few years, yes, but she usually avoided him during her week. And he was confused with  his girlfriend's random absences.   
   It was her first heat while they were under the same roof. She was in the last two days, thankfully. But her needs only progress as the days go on before they burn out after a week is up. She took care of herself while Daniel was either at work or on a covert mission.   
   But Daniel was home, in hallway hanging up pictures no less. Mar'eyna was trapped. She couldn't run off to the bathroom and run the water to drown her sounds, and she couldn't do anything in her room with Daniel in such a close proximity. The walls were thin..   
   Mar'eyna gripped the end of her night gown and tugged. Her air filters were blinking a deep red that blended in with her cheeks. She was sitting on her knees on her bed. The sheets were scrunched up in random places from this early morning's session, done while Daniel was fast asleep. Her helper was locked away in a box under her bed.   
   But that was hours ago. It was on the brink of ten in the evening. She was getting another wave. And it was more powerful than any she'd gotten all week.   
   And like her legs had a mind of their own, she got out of bed and walked out of her room. She sped walk past Daniel, who was about to greet her.   
   He caught a long whiff of her as she left a trail of her heat musk afloat in the air she walked through.   
   "Mary?"  
   Mar'eyna was literally just about to turn the knob and begin to end her suffering. God damn it!  
   "You wearing lotion?"  
   "No."  
   "Huh." Daniel shrugged. "Well, you smell ni—"  
   Mar'eyna cut him off by running into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.   
   "That girl." Daniel smirked before putting up the last picture. He walked past the bathroom to get to the kitchen for a refreshment, only getting a face full of string vanilla extract scents and those of persevered peaches. It was quite...stimulating.   
   Daniel stood there for a minute just for the aroma. It made him crave some cobbler, which fortunately they had. Just out of curiosity, he put his ear against the door because he was hearing noises separate from the shower running.   
    Mar'eyna only needed three minutes to herself. She turned off the shower and used the sink to wet her hair a little. And she wet her loofah to and the towel on the floor to make it seem she was actually occupying the shower. She took off her shirt, which was the only thing she had left on. She put everything she wore into the bathroom into the hamper and grabbed  her towel and wrapped it around her.   
   She gasped when she opened the door to see Daniel standing there, right in her way. Mar'eyna covered her breasts more and avoided eye contact.   
   "I know you like looking at all this, but I'm tryna get dressed."  
   Daniel was looking past her into the bathroom.   
   "Stop gawking, Danny, before I make you move. Why are you even standing here? Were you tryna peak through the crack? You're despicable."  
   "No, I just heard you scream and I was gonna check if you were alright." He said, now looking at her towel clad body. "What? Did you see a spider or something?"   
   "Sure." Mar'eyna pushed past him and hurried off to her room.   
   Daniel snickered. Call him what you want, but you can't call him stupid.   
   He had picked up on her behavior for the past week and it was all constant around that time of day. First, the smell would drift around the apartment, reaching his nose from wherever he was inside. Second, Mar'eyna's little pitter pattering would be heard heading down the hall to the bathroom or up the hall to her room. Then, on an average of four minutes later, she'd emerge out of whatever room she was in with a better attitude. Finally, she'd either sweep or vacuum for whatever reason.   
   Daniel heard the vacuum turn on. Mar'eyna didn't have carpet, so that was odd.   
   Mar'eyna used the hose to get the dust in the corners or her room and to clean her throw pillows. Daniel walked in, not even asking if she was decent or knocking first. Rude.   
   "You know there's a Lunarian fact vlog I've been watching. It's written by this Philly guy who's married to one." True.   
   "You read blogs?" Mar'eyna spike up to be heard over the noise.   
   "I said vlog, like a video log. Anyway, like two days ago, he was saying something about her being in heat, but he never went into detail. Do you know what he's talking about? I'm stumped."  
   "Nigga, just look it up." Mar'eyna turned off the vacuum and wrapped up the cable.   
   "Well, actually, I did. But I don't know if it's the same for you Moon folk."   
   Mar'eyna rolled her eyes, getting irritated with the persistence.   
   "Jeez, it's the same thing!" Mar'eyna got up and rolled the vacuum to the corner of the room. "Sheesh."  
   "Woah, what's got your panties in a twist?"  
   "Don't be concerned with my undergarments!" Her face was heating up from the aggravation. "Why're you harassing me and bombarding me with questions?"  
   Daniel picked up on her hostility and tried to baby her with a hug, which she literally hissed at and crawled out between his legs to escape the cornering. By far the strangest behavior he'd ever witnessed when it came to his dear Mary.   
   He grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her back. Her silk house capris made it easy for her to be fucking dragged across the floor. He sat on her back, most supporting his weight his knees on the floor, on either side of her.   
   "Why're you being so bad today?" Daniel asked. "I'm used to you being loud, but you're being mean."   
   "Get off my back." Mar'eyna demanded. "Both figuratively and literally. Punk."  
   Daniel leaned forward so that his hands were on either side of her face.   
   "I like you like this; all vulnerable. And I think you like it too. You could've teleported away by now."   
   "I can only do that when I'm on my feet, nerd." She tried turning over, but to no avail.  "You're heavy. I can't breathe."   
   "I'm not even pushing on you. So dramatic." Daniel twisted her hair around her hair and tugged. Mar'eyna lifted her face off the ground with a gasp from surprise. "I think you're just acting like this," Daniel yanked this time. Mar'eyna used the hand that Daniel didn't have pinned to cover her face. Her filters were lighting up like a concert's stage between red and bright pink. Her cheeks were heating up. As a matter of fact, her whole body was hot, from Daniel's closeness and other factors. "Because you're trying to hide your heat."   
   Mar'eyna got defensive. "Shut your mouth, Daniel. I'm not even in it. Never have been. You're delusional. You probably want me to be so you can take advantage of me in such a state. Get off!"  
   "You're such a bad liar, Mary." Daniel curled his lips. "It's adorable that you think I can't tell you've been craving me all week but was too afraid to face me."  
   "Ha! Don't flatter yourself. If anything, I was craving your famous smoked salmon."  
   "Hmm, guess I could make that tonight." Daniel muttered to himself. He pushed face back into the floor and brought that pinned hand of hers behind her, twisting her shoulder a little.   
   "Babe! Ow!" Mar'eyna cried out. "Let me go, I'm not playing anymore."  
   "Who said I was playing?" Daniel went into his back pocket where handcuffs dangled out of it. He cuffed her one hand, much to her protest and resistance and excessive jostling like it would free her. He restrained the other, so both were behind her back.   
   "What're you doing, Daniel? This ain't funny."  
   "I didn't say it was." Daniel took off his gloves and threw them in front of Mar'eyna. "I plan on teaching you a thing  today: it is that I don't appreciate the attitude."   
   Mar'eyna began to sweat, nervous and confused about the last part. Was it that obvious; her heat?   
   "This place has been smelling like apricot jam and frosting all week. And I think, now that I'm oh, so close to you, that it's been coming from your person."  
   "It's just my new lotion." Mar'eyna's face flushed over.   
   "Sure." Daniel caressed her neck, making her wince. "Regardless, it's very...provoking to the...vulnerable male."  
   "Would that man be you?" Mar'eyna lifted her head against his hand, which was still pushing down on her.   
   Daniel glanced away as if he was having a face to face conversation with her. "N-no. I'm not vulnerable to aromas. I'm stronger than that."  
   Mar'eyna tried to turn over again. Daniel put his full weight on her back. He was unintentionally grinding on her to get comfortable on her dipped back. Mar'eyna crossed her ankles, trying to control another wave. She was wiggling under him lightly, but noticeably enough. He couldn't hold her down anymore than he was without actually harming her.   
   And for his next act, he put his fingers in her mouth and pushed down on her tongue, not triggering any bodily responses.   
   "No gag, huh? That'll be useful later."   
   Mar'eyna wished she didn't have her hands cuffed. Boy, how she begged Hod to let her cover her face from such embarrassment! Daniel had no shame, that man.   
   "Danny, please."  
   "Danny please what?"  
   "Let me get up. I think I hear my mission alert thingy going off."  
   "No." He said assertively, making Mar'eyna's womanhood tremble, initiating another heat.   
   "Shoot." Mar'eyna said to herself, smelling her own aroma before it could reach Daniel.   
   "I still haven't taught you your lessons, baby. You can't go on missions without dealing with me first."   
   Mar'eyna's whole underwear territory needed attention or she'd die! Oh, the agony. One minute into her heat and she was already at her limit. Daniel hadn't even laid a finger on her yet. Him on her though, that was quite inducing.   
   "Just teach me, already." Mar'eyna said, sounding more needy and desperate than she wanted to seem. She couldn't help but wonder how she'd be taught. The handcuffs were already on; maybe Daniel was gonna whip her or something sadistic like that. She imagined Daniel stepping on her private while wearing an SS cap with a riding crop in hand.   
   Not bad, she thought.   
   Daniel got off of her and left the room. He came back and kneeled in front of Mar'eyna and smiled at her the way he did when he was watching her talk about her day. How dare he give her such a loving look after torturing her with his fat ass?  
   "I've been saving this for when we get further into our relationship. But I think now's the perfect time to use it."   
   Daniel showed her the brown and black leather riding crop. He placed it on her cheek and slid it down slowly. Mar'eyna's fears were confirmed: Daniel was the kinky type.   
   "You've been getting bold with some grown people lately. They've been complaining to me like I'm your parent or something. But now, I think a little Carter parenting is what you need to set your straight."   
   "What're you even saying? I haven't defied anyone at all this month!"  
   Daniel went over her and struck her with his hand.   
   "I'm going to do that each time you lie."   
   Mar'eyna was in utter shock. What the hell was that?! Did he just...spank her?! The nerve!   
   She wasn't going to hide the fact that it hurt. She sucked her teeth from the moment of contact. Him not wearing gloves only made it worse.   
   "Daniel! The fuck?!"  
   He struck her again.   
   "I'm also going to do that when you swear." Daniel added. "Now, back to what I was saying: you need to learn some respect. Towards everyone."  
   "How about, just for adults? Because I'm not gonna kiss anyone on the Team's ass."  
   Daniel sighed and tsked. He spanked her again. "What did I say about cursing?" Daniel pulled her hair, making her neck crack a little from the suddenness. "Well?"  
   "Well," Mar'eyna mocked his voice. "Maybe if you gave me time to respo—"  
   Daniel hit her harder then pulled her hair more roughly.   
   "No talking back either."  
   Mar'eyna was on the brink of tears. She didn't know she'd be getting a rise from Daniel's stern, manly voice. Her butt stung badly, and the hits made her eyes more watery each time.   
   Daniel on the other hand, was getting hot from dominating Mar'eyna, who would be just so easy to break. Her fragility turned him on while he was like this. Normally, he'd be protective or her like this, but the role switch gave him such a rush! Thinking about how he'd use the riding crop soon made him drool at the mouth.  
"Are cuffs even necessary for this?"  
"So you can't get up. I know how your body works."  
   It's true after all these years, Mar'eyna has to have her back flat on the floor to get up. And with her hands cuffed behind her, her back wouldn't be flat even if she managed to roll over.   
   "Now, where were we?" Daniel bent the riding crop as he thought.   
   "You were about to let me go."  
   Spanked again for lying.   
   "You just don't get it, do you? Are you doing this on purpose? Is it because you like me hitting you?" Daniel taunted. "Oh, angel, this hurts me more it hurts you. Just straighten out your act."  
   "Okay, whatever. I learned my lesson." Mar'eyna rushed and began wiggling again.   
   "I don't think you have."  
   "Yes, I have! I'm going to do better. I promise."  
   "I'm picking up some sarcasm in your tone. I'm counting it as back talk." Daniel snapped the riding crop so she could hear her punishment before feeling it. He traced her spine down to her rear. He was getting more and more excited. The moment was so near.   
   "Daniel, I'm being genuine! Please don't use that on me. It's going to hurt."  
   "That's the point, Mary." Daniel said expressionless before striking her, making her whole body tense up. Her lip was quivering now, holding back her whines.   
   Daniel was displeased with the lack of response he received. He proceeded to hit her over and over without reason that time around. Eventually, Mar'eyna couldn't hold back and began to cry aloud, screaming her apologies each time. Daniel got a rush of blood to his penis. He was smirking devilishly and his eyes were dark.   
   He could see her bed from where he was on top of her. Underneath was in his eyeshot as well. With the lighting, whatever was under there was too visible.  
   "Let's see what a delinquent has to hide." Daniel leaned forward, pressing hisself against her; his lower regions thanked him for finally getting some attention.   
   Mar'eyna was surrounded by her tears on the floor, and didn't pick up on what Daniel said until after she saw him fish around under her bed. Her voice was too little to speak her objection.   
   "Let's see. We've got shoes that could be on the rack. One hit for being dirty." He documented. "And we have some water bottles. Another hit for being dirty. He was purposely going past the neon yellow box to save for last after reading the bright red label. Did she really think she was that slick?   
   "And here's the earring you were looking for a few days ago, must've fell between the wall. One hit for not being responsible."   
   "It's not my fault for being a fitful sleeper."  
   "Yet another one for Miss Mar'eyna. Do you ever keep quite? Your mouth gets you into a lot of trouble. I'm starting to think you still haven't learned anything."   
   Mar'eyna could only watch as he pulled out her infamous yellow box. She was hot from embarrassment that would be following close after he opened it.   
   "Wow, it has one of those diary locks." Daniel observed. "You must really want to hide whatever's in here from your precious boyfriend. What's this?" He turned the box over one face to read the label aloud. "Auto Pump, five inches. Hm. I wonder what's inside." From just a little exertion, he broke the cheap lock and lifted the cover. He took the transparent, nude colored toy out. He didn't look at it for too long because that would be gay. He kneeled in front of his girlfriend and put it in her face. She didn't know where to look first: his face, his tented pants, or her play thing grazing her nose.   
   "I've never seen that before in my life." Mar'eyna commented on the toy. Her voice was back to normal as she had time to recovery while Daniel was invading her personal boundaries.   
   "Another one for lying." Daniel almost sounded bored with her consistency. Whipping her would get him back in the groove. "I think we should compare. If I'm bigger, we toss this disgrace in length." He said, a little envious of silicon that has gotten to explore her extraterrestrial walls. He knew his penis was beyond superior, but he wanted her to see that.   
   He stripped his lower body fully and then kneeled in front of her. He had the urge to just smack her across the face with his dick. She'd probably like that.   
   He put the fake one next to his non synthetic one. He made it seem like it was bumped down to three inches against his nine inch erection.   
   The sight of Daniel's beautiful pink tip and veins got Mar'eyna's engine revving. Seeing how slick it didn't help her to control herself.   
   "How far can you go with this? It feels like the last two inches haven't been touched; they're not as sticky." Daniel stuffed it into her mouth. "Do you like tasting yourself?" He twisted the thing while pumping it. "What does this button do?" He pressed the blue one above the red and the toy began moving on its own. "Handy." Then he pulled it from her warm mouth and pressed the red one. The toy began to rotate, and soon after, it exploded whatever substance was used in that tract upwards, coating parts of Mar'eyna's face and hair. Never had she been so embarrassed in her entire life, literally. That exact moment took the cake, the pie, and the tarts. And the worse part was she liked the humiliation.   
   "I didn't buy that for myself." Mar'eyna decides it would be better to look anywhere else in the room.   
   "The receipt in the box states otherwise."  
   She waited for him to say, "Another one for x, y, z." But didn't get it. She thanked God, who really shouldn't have been brought into such circumstances.   
   "I think I should cash in your lashings." Daniel straddled the back of her knees, grabbing the crop and beating her ass with it more times than her lying compensated for. She was back to crying. He was just eager to finish up with her lesson.   
   He was ruining her silky pants with that thing, and she had been hit enough in the same spot for a hole to tear past her pants and panties, exposing the light brown of her skin.   
   Daniel brought his hands around her neck. Her womanhood drenched her panties thoroughly throughout her whole lesson: the toy, the spanking, just Daniel being so manly and dominant...it got her juices flowing.   
   “Are we done?”  
“Don’t worry about that.”   
“I think I should.”  
“I think my day was wasted trying to discipline you. You’re helpless.”   
“I’m not a hands on typa learner.”  
“No kidding.” Daniel stretched, arms worn out. “Maybe candle wax will do you some justice. I’ll spare you for now.”


	28. 26

   It was only a matter of time before Mar'eyna would be spotted during her work hours and be mistaken for a prostitute. Her run in with the law was brief, as she just teleported out of holding.   
   She had some racks saved up to support her for a few months not including necessities. Daniel just assumed she got the money saved from just stealing instead of paying for anything. He wasn't wrong, technically, as she may have not racked up a receipt since her encounter with Jedediah, which was months ago.   
   Now she was working as a cashier with an attitude at a McDonald's drive through window. At least the view was decent. Nothing like seeing the sky scrapers block the sunrise so perfectly.   
   "We stopped serving breakfast a minute ago." Mar'eyna spoke into her headset. "Just get fries. They're basically hash browns."   
   "Little girl, y'all should still be frying up some McGriddles in there. I was in this line before 10:30. But since you wanna take your sweet time taking orders, I'm just pulling up. And I want my damn breakfast."  
   "Clearly, you're not understanding the words coming out of my mouth. We ain't got no damn breakfast, ho. Go home and whip up some eggs if you're gonna hold up my line."   
   And that's how she got her fourth customer complaints in two days, if people still even bother submitting those nowadays. She quit while she was ahead and ran home during her break, leaving her visor on the register upfront. Daniel almost hit her in the shared parking with the car. She really snuck up on him, he didn't even see her in any of his mirrors.   
   "Jackass!" Daniel cursed out of the window, not recognizing Mar'eyna behind the sunglasses and under that ridiculous bobbed wig she wore around the normal folk of Philadelphia.   
   "The sign says yield for pedestrians, dill weed!" Mar'eyna aggressively pointed at the sign that said so.   
   "I know that's not you under all that, Mary." Daniel stepped out te the car with his keys in hand.   
   "I know you weren't just tryna collect my life insurance, Daniel." Mar'eyna walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Guess who got fired?" She asked in a peppy tone.   
   "Mary! How bad can you be at pressing buttons and counting change?"   
   "That's not the reason. But it's okay. I'm just going to apply for a job in an alley. You have no idea what these Philly niggas will pay for a light for their cigs."  
   "You need to start taking jobs more seriously. You're a grown woman who needs to need to be able to support herself if something happens to me." Daniel took her hand in his as they walked to their apartment.   
   "I doubt anything bad is ever going to happen to you. You play too safe."

 

   Another day without any missions. The world was just too safe now with the major threats dealt with. Even minor things like drug dealing and robberies were on hold with the freezing cold that washed over the entire northern United States. Mar'eyna wasn't affected of course. She was born in a code blue.   
   There wasn't even snow. The air was dry and spicy, making faces sting. Mar'eyna was floating in the water while anyone with common sense was warm inside the Cave.   
   The weather pattern was severely odd despite it being the seasonal month of December. Just a day ago, it was sweltering to the point where Mar'eyna brought a pan and some eggs outside and made breakfast on the sidewalk, only to black out from the heat afterwards.   
   It was strange. But nothing to write home about.   
   Mar'eyna opened her eyes and looked up at the white sky above her. The sun was nowhere in sight, but it was still bright. The clouds were the thickest she'd ever seen them. She headed back to shore and grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was nice and quiet. Too desolate for her liking, but it was always good to get alone time, especially when she hadn't been alone for more than a few hours at a time since she moved to Philadelphia. It gave her time to think.   
   Her thoughts mostly consisted of that shirtless gay guy catalogue she so happened to stumble across three years ago—the images were implanted into her brain—, her love life, and her only real foe, Phoenix. The Team as a whole had its villains, but only a few members were special enough to have their own problems outside of the Cave. Not including the members who shared a villain with their mentors.   
   Then that kiss came back to her as she dried off. She was embarrassed with herself. Talk about thirsty! Was he still there, frozen to the floor? Nah, he probably melted by now if no one torched him to save him. It would've been such a coincidence if she ever ran into him again. 

  Mar'eyna arrived at work at around seven that night. The weather only got worse in terms of condition. Now she worked at a restaurant. A step up from her past fast food chain occupation. The more sophisticated environment made her want to not act out just out of the fear of being judged by the bougie eaters. It wasn't one of those family places where you'd take your kids. It was the upper class middle aged and elderly who prefer to listen to a soft piano tune while eating. And of course, she was a waitress as she had no goal to get a chef's license or whatever it is.   
   A culinary degree?  
   And it paid decently. With the legally blind people tipping her with twenties that they think are Lincolns, Mar'eyna could afford to dine there herself if she has a taste for such gourmet classics. She was more of a chicken tenders and waffle fries kind of girl.   
   Daniel was outside her workplace in the car waiting for her shift to be over, using his fire to keep himself warm. The car heat was close to shit for the first time he used it. It was five minutes before he remembered he had to open the little vents for him to feel anything.   
   Back inside, Mar'eyna changed out of her damn hotel receptionist get up of a uniform. Her and Danny boy had plans to go home and do absolutely nothing except enjoy each other's company.   
   She walked past the old people she just served who were still putting on their jackets.   
   Mar'eyna teleported into the passenger's seat, startling her angel.   
   "You listen to this negro stuff?" Mar'eyna asked before turning down the radio. "I thought you liked pop."  
   "Good evening to you too." Daniel struggled to take his hands out of the pockets of his thick coat. "And I like all genres, mind you."  
   Mar'eyna kisses his, for once, just simply warm lips. No burning or blisters she'd have to deal with. It felt nice.   
   "Take off the gloves." Mar'eyna pointed.   
   Daniel did so and Mar'eyna put his hands on her cheeks. Also warm. Like, a person with a bad fever kind of temperature.   
   "Oh my God!" Mar'eyna exclaimed. "You must be freezing, babe. I've never felt you so cool."  
   "That's partly my own bad." Daniel scratched behind his ear. "You ready to go?"  
   "I wanna do more than just watch a movie later." She blurted out. "Like, you're the perfect temperature right now and it's...ironically, hot. Not ironically hot, but ironically, hot."   
   "That can be arranged. But I'm going to warm back up once I get inside." Daniel put the car in reverse to get out of parking.   
   "Then lets do it in the backseat. Right now."   
   Daniel stomped on the breaks.   
   "Excuse me?" His voice was high with confusion.   
   Mar'eyna's cheeks burned from embarrassment. "Not 'it', but like, you know what I meant! I'd never...you? In this weather? Not in a million years. Well, not a million, but maybe like—you know what? Forget I said anything. Let's go."  
   "No no no, it's okay. I was just puzzled for a moment. Brain freeze."  
   "It's fine."  
   "We can, if you want, do what you meant." He offered.   
   "If you want." Mar'eyna said back.   
   "I do. But do you?" Daniel started to drive since he was currently blocking the three cars that wanted his spot.   
   "If you want." She repeated. 

   "Wow, what a rush!" Mar'eyna ran her hand through her messy hair. "That felt like, so weird, having your actual skin on mine, no gloves in the way. Interesting, intriguing feeling. Wanna go again?"  
   Daniel was just catching his breathe from having his tongue down her throat for like twenty minutes, swirling and licking her uvula and teeth. The two of them were freaky teens.   
   "How much further can we go from here without having to get married first?"  
   "Just to shuffle things up, we can always start putting our hands down each other's pants. But you'd have to wear a condom. I don't want to get pregnant."  
   Daniel pursed his lips at her ignorance. "Angel, my darling Mary. Have you ever had a sex Ed class in your life?"  
  


End file.
